Persona: The Brave And The Bold
by RockinPurpleSarah
Summary: Alexander Gerdelman moves to a new town with his parents. But in a town that's supposedly quiet, strange things begin happening to Alex and the new friends he meets as well as gaining a special power and going into a mysterious world. A mostly OC story!
1. New Kid in Town

Heya fellow readers! And yes you are seeing this right, I am writing another story. Before this starts, I shall explain some things.

In the past few months, I've been playing Persona for the first time, more specifically Persona 3 and 4... And I fell in love with this series! I love it! (I really want to play Persona 5 but I don't have a PS4, so YouTube videos will have to do for now) I have to thank a few friends for getting me into it (you know who you are and if you're reading this, hi!). And because of this I really wanted to write a Persona fic, but I had trouble deciding what type it should be. I thought of an Ed Edd n Eddy/Persona fic, but that one is being done better; a Dragon Age/Persona fic, sounded too complicated and kinda stupid; and then a Persona/OC fic. I chose the Persona/OC fic as in my head it seems less than 50% stupid.

And if you're confused as to why this is a Persona-Wrestling crossover when I just said OCs are in here, like in Angelgirl16290's and mine's fic Pokemon Academy, wrestlers are either parents to the OCs or minor characters; they won't be a huge focus in the story (and their real names are being used). This is a mostly OC story and most of the characters from Pokemon Academy are in this story as well. Also every scene I'm putting in a background music suggestion, but if you get annoyed by that I'll stop. I was going to try that out with Pokemon Academy, but decided to try it here first.

Anyway, I think that's it. OCs are owned by me and Angelgirl16290! Enjoy the first chapter!

* * *

 _[Background Music: Persona 3 OST: The Poem for Everyone's Souls]_

"Where… Where am I…?" A voice was heard.

The owner of the voice, who could not be seen by the viewer, noticed that he was in a strange room. The room was blue all over with a table in the middle of the room with a blue velvet cloth. Behind that table was a man sitting on a blue velvet seat as well. This man was short and was bald at the top with the sides having long white hair down close to his shoulders, he had bulging out eyes, menacing eyebrows, and was wearing a black suit. But the most noticeable thing about this man was his nose, as it was as long as a foot.

Next to the man was a beautiful blonde woman with gold eyes, hair to her shoulder,s and a blue headband. She wore a blue velvet jacket, black stockings, and had a book on her lap.

"Welcome to the Velvet Room." The man said in a creepy sounding tone. "Ah, it seems we have a guest. My name is Igor… I am delighted to make your acquaintance."

"Igor…?" The guest asked, confused of where he was.

"And this is my assistant, Margaret." Igor motioned over to the woman. "She is a resident of this place, like myself."

"My name is Margaret, pleased to meet you." Margaret said.

"This place exists between dream and reality, mind and matter..." Igor said. "It is a room that only those bound by a "contract" may enter. And with you here, it must seem that such a fate awaits you in your future.

Igor put something on the table in front of the guest, it was a piece of paper. On the bottom was a blank line.

"Why don't you sign your name on that line?" Igor suggested.

The guest looked at the paper for the longest time, still not really comprehending on what was going on.. Finally he gave in after a while, grabbed the pen, and signed his name. After it was signed, Igor picked up the paper and looked at it.

"Hmm… I see." Igor looked at the guest with intrigue. "Alexander Gerdelman… You're moving to a new place with your family, am I correct? First time in a long time moving to a new place… having no clue what can happen. But once you enter into your new home, you will have a destiny to fulfill, and my duty is to assist you. The contract has been signed, but we shall explain more some other time."

"Until then… Farewell."

Before the guest could ask, the room was surrounded with white light before going to black.

* * *

 **Persona: The Brave And The Bold**

 **Chapter 1: New Kid in Town**

 _Date: Sunday, August 13th_

 _[Background Music: Persona 4 OST: New Days]_

"Alex, wake up, we're almost there."

"Ugh..." 17 year old Alexander Gerdelman groaned as he heard his mom Sarah waking him up. He fell asleep in the passenger seat of the car while Sarah was driving and his dad Frankie was driving the moving trunk behind them. Alex had long brown hair down to his shoulders, brown eyes, and he wore a black button-up shirt on top of a gray undershirt, blue jeans, and black boots. "How long have I been asleep?" He asked rubbing his eyes yawning.

"About two hours I think." Sarah said. "You really were out of it, until just before I woke you up you suddenly moved a bit."

"Well we did get up very early this morning and I couldn't sleep last night." Alex pushed his hair back. As he did though he looked out the car window. That dream he just had… with that man Igor, Margaret, Velvet Room, something about a destiny…

" _That was a really weird dream..."_ He thought. But right when he thought that, what looked like Igor appeared as a reflection on the car window. Alex rubbed his eyes again and looked at the window, and of course Igor was gone. _"...I must be seeing things… Must've been that burrito I ate for lunch..."_

"So… You ready to live in a new town and start your final year in high school?" Sarah asked with a smile.

"Still not sure on going to a new town, but I am glad this is my last year of school." Alex chuckled. "Although I do wonder how this high school is compared to Palm Springs'."

"You're schedule should be in the mail when we get there, be sure to check. Oh look, we're heading in." Sarah said happily as they drove past the welcome sign to the town.

"Welcome to Silvercrest! Population: 15,000" The sign read. Alex had to admit, the town name Silvercrest was kind of cool, cooler than Palm Springs.

The family was able to find their house and they got into the driveway. Sarah and Alex got out of the car as Frankie jumped out of the driver's seat of the moving truck.

"Ahhh damn…!" Frankie said out loud, stretching out his arms. "That was a long ass drive, but I'm glad we're at our new house!"

"Shall we start taking things out and unpack?" Sarah asked, walking to the back of the truck and lifting up the back.

"I'll start taking things in." Alex ran over and grabbed a heavy box, which caused him to comically almost fall to the ground.

"Aww! So glad you're helping out, Alex." Sarah said laughing slightly.

"I'm only doing it so I can get pizza tonight!" Alex said struggling to hold the box up. He grabbed the house keys from Sarah and went to the door to unlock it.

"Hello there!" A heavy Irish accent was heard next door. "About time we see our new neighbors!"

At the house next door, a buff pale man with his ginger hair put in a mohawk and a slight beard was waving at them. Next to him was a smaller woman with long brown hair.

"You knew there was someone moving in?" Frankie asked walking over to the neighbors.

"Ever since that For Sale sign went away we've been wanting to see who was moving in." The man said before holding out a hand to Frankie. Despite looking quite intimidating, this man seemed very polite. "I'm Stephen Farrelly and this is my wife Chelsea."

"I'm Frankie Gerdelman and this is my wife Sarah." Frankie said shaking their hands. "We moved here with our son."

"That your son right there?" Chelsea asked, pointing at Alex who was carrying another box into the house behind them.

"That he is." Sarah smiled. "He's going to be starting his senior year in high school tomorrow."

"Hey! Our daughter is going to be starting her senior year tomorrow too. Maybe they can be in the same classes." Chelsea said.

Just then another person walked out of the Farrelly house. She had nearly the same facial features as Chelsea, but had long ginger hair. She also wore a light blue shirt under a purple jacket, blue jeans, and purple sneakers.

"Mom, you better get in here and take the chicken out, the oven is starting to smoke." She said, speaking in a slight Irish accent, not as heavy as Stephen's.

"Oh no!" Chelsea groaned and ran into the house.

"These the new neighbors, Dad?" The girl asked asked walking over.

"Yep, these are the Gerdelmans. Sarah, Frankie, this is my daughter Ember." Stephen said. "They have a son that's going to be a senior tomorrow too."

"Really? Hmm… if he's looking for a friend, maybe I can show him around town." Ember suggested.

"I'm sure Alex would like that, he wasn't too interested in us moving here anyway." Frankie said. As he said this, Alex was carrying another box to the door. "Hey Alex! Come over here!"

"Hang on, Dad! I just gotta-" That's when Alex dropped the box, with a glass shattering sound being heard from inside. "...Crap!"

"Don't worry I'll get it, come over here." Sarah said and Alex walked over. "Alex, this is Ember, one of our neighbors."

"Nice to meet you, Alex." Ember said with a sweet smile.

"Hi Ember." Alex greeted. "Surprised to already be saying hi to someone and we just got into town."

"I suggested to your parents if you would like, I can show you around town." Ember said.

"Well gee, I'd like to, but I have to help Mom and Dad unpack." Alex said.

"You can go ahead and go with her, Alex. You go get acquainted." Frankie said.

"But… what about my pizza for tonight?! You said we could get pizza if I helped out!" Alex slightly whined.

"We'll still get pizza, you did good right now. Go on, go." Sarah encouraged.

"The pizza better be stuffed crust and have lots of pepperoni!" Alex shook a fist. "My stomach has been craving pizza!"

" _Heh, I like this guy already."_ Ember chuckled to herself, she knew she just made friends with the new kid in town.

* * *

 _[Background Music: Persona 3 OST: Joy]_

Alex and Ember were walking down a street in Silvercrest. They've been walking around town for over 45 minutes with Ember showing him places to go to as well as getting to know each other more. They surprisingly had a lot of things in common and now they were telling each other about their families.

"So your dad is Irish, but your mom is Canadian?" Alex asked.

"Yep, and ever since I was born they argued whether I was more Irish or Canadian." Ember said with a laugh. "But I think I'm 50/50."

"Well your accent isn't as heavy as your dad's and you do say certain words like your mom, so I agree with ya." Alex chuckled.

"You seem like a cool guy so far, Alex." Ember commented. "Despite the stuff I've shown you here in town though, it can get kind of boring around here. We moved here two years ago and there's not really been a lot of interesting stuff."

"Figured as much, Mom and Dad wanted to move to a quieter town." Alex sighed. "But hey, do you have any other friends to hang out with?"

"Well-"

"INCOMING!"

"JAX YOU IDIOT! I TOLD YOU NOT TO GO DOWN THAT HILL!"

"WHOA!" Ember shouted as she barely avoided a fast moving bicycle rider. Behind the rider a black haired girl wearing a green short sleeve shirt, black vest, black skirt, and black boots was following him.

"SLOW DOWN!" The black haired girl shouted.

"I CAN'T! THE BRAKE'S NOT-" A loud sound of metal crashing into metal was heard. "OW! MY NADS!"

Ember and Alex ran towards what just happened. The girl caught up to the rider, who had short brown hair, blue eyes, and wore a black hoodie, blue jeans, and white shoes. He was also off his bike and holding his private area in pain. Apparently the bike ran into a stop sign.

"How your bike didn't swerve as you were riding down was a miracle." The girl shook her head.

"...Mommy..." The boy said in a pained high pitched tone.

"That's the third time Jax nearly ran someone over this week, Rayna!" Ember said.

"I keep telling him but he never listens!" The girl supposedly named Rayna said.

"He could really injure someone if this keeps happening. He's not even wearing a helmet." Alex said.

Rayna looked and saw Alex, "Hey Em, who's this guy?"

"Rayna, this is Alex Gerdelman. He just moved into town today and is my next door neighbor. Alex, this is Rayna Sullivan-Good, a friend of mine." Ember introduced the two.

"Ember was your first friend here huh? Lucky you." Rayna grinned.

"Well she did give me a bit of a tour around town." Alex said before looking down at the boy. "And what about him?"

"Oh that's just Jax, we've been friends for years." Rayna said, shrugging her shoulders.

"Name's Jaxson Devitt… but just call me Jax..." Jax once again said in pain.

"Come on… let's get a cold pop can to use as ice for his balls." Rayna rolled her eyes as the three helped Jax up and went to the nearest gas station.

After they got an ice cold pop can and stuffed it in Jax's pants, the four new friends decided to stop at the local ice cream palor for ice cream cones. They grabbed their cones and continued walking around town together.

"Mmm… this ice cream tastes great!" Alex commented, slurping on his chocolate cone. "I actually think I taste some pieces of brownie in here!"

"Silvercrest is known for it's delicious ice cream cones." Ember giggled, licking her strawberry cone.

"Well it is incredible!" Alex gobbled down the rest of his cone, but after swallowing it he held his head. "Brain freeze!"

"Did your parents tell you not to eat your food so fast?" Rayna laughed finishing the last of her chocolate chip cone.

"I like food! I sometimes eat it too fast!" Alex shouted as the other three laughed.

Their laughing however stopped when two cop cars followed by an ambulance drove past them with sirens blaring.

 _[Background Music: Persona 3 OST: Troubled]_

"What the hell?" Jax asked as they saw the cop cars and ambulance stop in front of a house five houses down.

"That can't be good..." Alex said. "Come on! Let's look!"

The four teens ran down the sidewalk and to the house. They saw the doctors take out a stretcher as a woman walked out of the house crying.

"What happened?" Ember asked. They watched and waited until the doctors came out again, but an adult body was on the stretcher and the woman was crying even more. "...Someone died?"

Rayna looked towards one of the police officers, "I think I can ask someone." She then walked over to the officer and tapped his shoulder. "Hey Dad? What happened here?"

The slicked back dirty blonde haired officer looked surprised at seeing her there, "Rayna! What are you doing here?"

"My friends were just passing by when we saw the ambulance and the cars drive by." Rayna said.

"Wait… that officer is Rayna's dad? I heard her call him Dad." Alex asked.

"That's Detective Jon Good and yes he is Rayna's dad, but he is also one of the town's best police detectives." Ember said. "We haven't had a whole lot of crimes in this town, but he's closed almost every one of them. And I think it's because he's a cop that Rayna doesn't get into trouble."

"Are you just saying that because she hangs out with me?" Jax asked. "I don't cause trouble!"

"We're not sure what happened here yet." Jon said talking to Rayna. "We just got a call from Mrs. Hastings, he sounded hysterical, and it seems her husband died. Other than that though we don't know yet. Now I suggest you and your friends leave. Besides it's getting late, you're going back to school tomorrow."

"Yeah yeah…" Rayna rolled her eyes. "Love you too, Dad." She turned around and headed back to her friends. "They don't know anything yet, just that the woman's husband is dead."

"That's sad..." Ember softly said.

"Hope it wasn't anything too serious." Alex said.

"Man, first day in this town and Alex got to see the police at someone's house." Jax said.

The four continued talking as they walked away from the block. They hung out a little longer until it was time for the four of them to go their separate ways and head home.

* * *

 _[Background Music: None]_

The Gerdelmans were sitting in their living room watching TV and eating their pizza. Alex was chomping down on his slices loudly, not paying attention to what was on TV.

"I'm going to switch it to the news, see what's happening." Frankie said grabbing the remote and switching it to the local news channel.

And the news that appeared made Alex stop eating his slice and listen.

"In other local Silvercrest news, Mr. Henry Hastings, owner of the Hastings Café in town, died suddenly today. His wife Lucy Hastings called 911 in hysterics and would not explain to the police what happened. When she finally calmed down and was able to speak, she had this to say."

The camera moved to show Mrs. Hastings talking to an officer.

"A few nights ago… my husband went to sleep, and he wouldn't wake up the next day, or the day after, or the day after that. But he was still alive as I could see and hear him breathing so I thought he was okay and just very exhausted… until I looked today… and saw he was no longer breathing..."

The camera then went back to the anchorwoman, "Police speculate that it could've been a coma, but an autopsy will be done to see what was the sudden cause of it."

Sarah sighed hearing this, "Dying in your sleep… what a scary thought..."

"And the fact it could've been a coma..." Frankie said.

Alex put his plate on the coffee table, which still had a slice of pizza to be eaten, and stood up. "I suddenly feel like I should go to bed. I feel tired."

"Then go to bed, you had an eventful day today." Sarah said.

"Especially since you already met some new friends." Frankie chuckled.

"Thanks Dad." Alex chuckled himself. "Night."

"Night Alex." Both Sarah and Frankie said as Alex went upstairs to his new bedroom. Once he got into his room he changed into his night clothes which was a Metallica t-shirt and black boxers and went into bed to fall asleep.

* * *

That's about it for the first chapter. Yeah not too much, but things will start happening next chapter. What do you think so far? Think it'll work? I do hope it does, I think I got something.

And I can't think of anything else to say so... See you next chapter!


	2. The Dream World

Howdy! Yep, another chapter already, guess I'm a groove for this one. And stuff happens in this chapter as we get introduced to the strange world in this story, read on and see! Enjoy!

* * *

 **Chapter 2: The Dream World**

 _[Background Music: Persona 4 OST: Mayonaka TV]_

Alex opened is eyes with shock when he saw he wasn't laying in his bed. Instead he was in a completely white area surrounded in fog. He couldn't see anything else, just white and fog.

" _Am I having another dream…? It feels… real, like I'm in a real place."_ Alex thought. Not sure what else to do, he began to walk forward. He walked for quite a while and there was nothing, after a few more steps however, he saw something in the distance. It looked like someone was standing there.

"Who's there?" Alex called out at the figure. No response. He ran forward to move closer and as he did, he noticed that it didn't look like an actual person. There was no face, no clothes, no nothing, it looked like… a shadow, a silhouette of a body. "H-hello…?" He said to the figure.

As soon as he asked that, a quick flash blinded him before his head felt like it was splitting in half. "AH!" Alex shouted in pain as he dropped to his knees and held his head. While this happened, the fog seemed to swirl around him as a voice was heard around him.

" _ **I am thou… Thou art I… Thou art the one… From the sea of thy soul, I come… When thou in need, call my name..."**_

And just like that within seconds, the fog moves away from Alex and the headache is gone. When Alex moved his head up however, the black shadow was floating above him. Still no face or anything, but it was clear it was looking down at him. He slowly moved back up to his feet, unsure on how to feel about what was happening. The shadow then turned into something smaller, something that fell into Alex's hands.

Alex looked at what he was holding onto. It was a blank black half mask that had three points on the bottom with the middle one being longer that the other two on the sides. He raised his eyebrow looking at this.

" _A mask…?"_ He asked to himself.

The fog once again surrounded Alex and engulfed him in, making him drift away.

* * *

 _Date: Monday, August 14th_

 _[Background Music: None]_

 _Beep! Beep! Beep!_

Alex's eyes shot awake hearing the loud beeping of his alarm clock. Groaning, he moved his hand over and slapped on it to turn it off. As he went to use his other hand to rub his eyes however… he noticed he was holding something…

...It was the black mask from the dream.

"What the…?!" Alex shouted nearly out loud. "That… that was a dream… right? But… how…?"

After looking at the mask in confusion for a few seconds, Alex pushed the thought to the side and put the mask on his desk. Weird or not, he had to get ready for his first day of school. He got dressed, did his business in the bathroom, had a quick breakfast downstairs, and ran back upstairs to his room to grab his backpack before running out of the house to school.

* * *

 _[Background Music: Persona 3 OST: Want To Be Close]_

Once Alex got to the high school, he had to find his homeroom which was Mr. Thomas's room. When he arrived in the class and homeroom started, he got called up to the front of the room.

"Everyone, we have a new student in our homeroom this year, looks like he'll be joining us in our fourth and final year together as a homeroom. Go ahead, introduce yourself." Mr. Thomas nodded with a smile. Mr. Thomas had long gray hair put in a ponytail and had on a white suit and glasses.

Alex stepped forward, "Hi everyone, my name is Alexander Gerdelman, but you can call me Alex. Nice to meet you all."

"He's going to be in our homeroom this year? He looks like some wannabe rockstar!"

"He's got girl hair! Get a haircut!"

"Hmm… he doesn't seem too bad."

"I think he's kinda cute..."

The reaction of the class seemed to be mixed on Alex, he expected that being a new student.

"Thank you, Alex. Welcome to Slivercrest High School and my homeroom. You can take your seat now." Mr. Thomas said.

"Ooh! Ooh! Sit here, Alex! Sit here!" A female voice was heard in the class. That voice belonged to Rayna, who was furiously pointing at an empty desk next to her.

"Oh hey, Rayna!" Alex waved to her and sat in the empty desk.

"Now since this is the first day of school, for the rest of homeroom you all can chat and do what you want." Mr. Thomas said as he sat down behind his desk and everyone in the class began to talk.

"Cool! We're in the same homeroom." Rayna smiled.

"But it seems Ember and Jax aren't here." Alex said, looking around for the other two he met the previous day. "Guess they're not in this homeroom."

"No, Ember is in Mrs. Torin's class and Jax is in that jerkhole Mr. Salvador's class." Rayna sighed. "Ugh…! And Salvador is teaching Calculus this year, a class seniors are required to take!"

"I take it that teacher is bad?" Alex asked.

"Salvador is the biggest asshole in this school! He taught Algebra II last year and I almost died!" Rayna groaned.

"Oh come on, he can't be that bad." Alex chuckled.

Three periods later and Alex was sitting in Calculus, looking annoyed as hell as the teacher, who was Mr. Salvador was ranting on and on about how kids are these days.

"Stupid kids would rather play video games and spend hours texting on their phone than learning about useful things that could help them get a job!" Mr. Salvador ranted. He had almost shoulder length gray hair with a goatee and mustache and wore a black suit. "Especially teenagers, they are a bunch of slacking, spoiled brats!"

"Then don't teach school, you moron!" A student shouted with most of the class agreeing.

"QUIET!" Salvador barked. "And for that, you're all getting a worksheet to work on as homework!" This caused the entire class to groan.

" _Wow… He really is bad..."_ Alex thought.

* * *

 _[Background Music: Persona 4 OST: Youthful Lunch]_

"Hey Alex! Over here!"

Alex grabbed his lunch tray as he heard a voice call to him. It was Ember's voice and she was waving from a table. He noticed Rayna and Jax were also there as well as two other people. One was a girl with above shoulder length blonde hair, brown eyes, and wore a dark blue sleeveless turtle-neck shirt and blue jeans as well as white sneakers. The other was a boy who looked a little younger than the rest that had very light brown hair and brown eyes and wore a brown turtle-neck and tan pants.

"What's going on guys? How's the first day coming along?" Alex asked, sitting next to Ember at the table.

"Boring as shit..." Jax whined. "If only I was good at playing sick, I could go home..."

"You once tried to fake throw up and it was just you throwing chewed up food in a toilet." Rayna said.

"Hey it was a history test! I didn't want to take it!" Jax said.

"And how has your day been? Getting used to the school already?" Rayna turned her attention to Alex.

"Eh, day's going okay so far, still getting used to it." Alex said. "I know it'll take a while."

"Oh Alex! You didn't meet these two yesterday." Ember said pointing to the other two. "Guys, this is Alex, the new friend we told you about that we met yesterday."

"Good to meet you, Alex." The girl greeted with a smile. "I'm Kaylen Rotunda."

"Hi… My name's Owen Lesnar..." The boy said in a shy quiet tone.

"Owen, why are you still so shy?" Ember asked.

Owen's face turned slightly pink, "Sorry, I can't help it."

"Owen's a grade under us, he's a junior." Kaylen said. "We became his friends after we defended him from a bully last year. But he's very shy."

"Don't worry, Owen, I won't cause any trouble." Alex said, trying to warm up to Owen.

A slight smile formed on Owen's face, "I'll trust you."

"And didn't I see you in Geography earlier?" Alex looked over at Kaylen as he began to take a bite out of his ham and cheese sandwich. "Although you looked different, your hair seemed longer and in a ponytail."

"I don't have Geography in the mor- Oh… You probably saw my twin sister, Kiki." Kaylen said.

"Oh you have a twin?" Alex asked, a piece of ham hanging from his mouth.

"Yeah..." Kaylen said before sighing, not looking very happy saying that.

Owen leaned over and whispered to Alex, "Kiki has a very bad case of sibling jealousy towards Kaylen, they don't get along very well..."

"Oh… sorry about that..." Alex said, feeling bad as he set his sandwich down.

"No it's fine, you didn't know… But yeah, Kiki and I don't get along very well, we haven't in years..." Kaylen sighed again.

There was an awkward silence at the table for a while. That is until Jax broke it suddenly with, "Hey Alex, have you heard of the Dream World?"

"The Dream World?" Alex asked.

"Jax, don't tell him about that. It's just a myth someone came up with for people to sleep here at Silvercrest." Kaylen said.

"Well too bad, I'm telling him the story." Jax laughed. He looked over at Alex and spoke, "It is said that on rainy nights, if you live in Silvercrest and fall asleep right at midnight, you will go into a world where you can do whatever you want. You're in a dream, but it doesn't feel like that. But it'll only work on rainy nights. Snowy nights count too."

Ember scoffed, "Don't listen to him, Alex. That's just a rumor that's been going around recently. Everyone's calling it the Silvercrest Dream World Myth."

"I can't believe you still believe that, Jax. Many people have tried it and nothing's happened." Rayna said.

"Well that's because they don't go to bed EXACTLY at midnight!" Jax said.

"Have you ever tried it?" Rayna asked.

Jax went silent, "Well… no..."

"Then it's a myth! There's no Dream World and there never will be!"

Rayna and Jax continued to argue over the myth. However this got Alex thinking… The dream he had last night… It felt real. The pain in his head, being in that foggy white area, that mask in his hand when he woke up. Maybe what he witnessed the previous night… was being in the Dream World.

" _...It's raining tonight, maybe I'll give it a try."_ He thought.

* * *

 _[Background Music: None]_

The rest of the day went off without a hitch; Alex went home with Ember after school and after dinner was done he went to his room to do his homework he had. Once his homework was finished, he had quite a bit of time to spare before midnight so he killed some time playing on his copy of Dragon Age: Origins on the computer, without his parents knowing he was staying up late of course.

At around 11:55, he looked out the window of his room in his night clothes. It was raining all right.

"Almost midnight, let's see if this works." Alex said to himself. He went to lay down in bed, but before he did, he looked over at his desk where the mask was still laying. And he didn't know why… but some lingering feeling told him to grab it and take it with him. He kept looking at the mask; a plain, black half mask with three points… what was so special about it?

He once again pushed the mask thought aside as he turned off the light and laid down in bed. After a few minutes he closed his eyes and drifted off to sleep…

...Right as his alarm clock struck midnight.

* * *

 _[Background Music: Persona 4 OST: Who's There?]_

Alex opened his eyes and was a bit underwhelmed at what he saw. He was just in a room with dark walls, it was all empty. He also noticed he was back in his casual clothing. But he knew one thing, this was feeling real, he didn't feel like he was in a dream right now.

"...This is the Dream World?" Alex asked, sounding disappointed. "Well… I know it's actually real."

"Hey Alex! You're here too?" A voice was heard. Alex turned and saw it was Jax walking over. "Yeah I was expecting something cooler, but hey the Dream World ACTUALLY exists! That'll show those girls and Owen! I don't even feel like I'm in a dream!"

"I don't know why, but I have a feeling something isn't right..." Alex said. He then thought to himself, _"Last night it was all white and foggy, and then that… shadow thing appeared."_

"I agree with you, man." Jax said. "I mean if THIS is all the Dream World is, then this is freakin' lame. ...Hang on, maybe we need to think. Maybe if we think our thoughts will be here!" He closed his eyes and began thinking.

Just then, Alex suddenly saw a single gold door appear in front of them. Is that what Jax was thinking about?

"Jax? ...Were you thinking of a door?" Alex asked.

"No, I haven't even started thinking- Oh hey a door!" Jax began to beam when he opened his eyes and saw the door. "Did that all of a sudden appear?"

"It did and that's why I thought you thought of it." Alex asked.

"Well what are we waiting for? Let's go inside!" Jax said in excitement as he and Alex opened the door together.

What they saw made Jax's smile turn to a frown. What they were looking at… was a hall of a prison. The cells were empty and it was dirty and broken down. It looked like a riot happened in it.

"A jail…? This is what we get? A jail?" Jax asked. "I wasn't thinking of this!"

"Well since we're here, we might as well explore and then we can find a way back." Alex suggested as he stepped inside the door and into the prison. Jax followed behind and the two walked down the hall. They looked into the empty cells and noticed the bars were rusting up. It was also so quiet they could hear their footsteps. "...It feels a little too quiet..."

"Yeah, it's kind of creepy, actually…" Jax said, nervously looking around. The two stopped at the end of the hall, leading way to more halls in front of them and to the right of them.

"Which way do you want to keep going? We should be fine as long as there isn't any-

"AHHHHHHHHH!"

 _[Background Music: Persona 3 OST: Crisis]_

Alex and Jax jumped back slightly when they heard a loud man's scream. Seconds later they could hear sounds of footsteps running from the right hallway. They saw a man with short black hair, gray shirt, and black pants running frantically, looking like he was running for his life.

"Whoa whoa whoa!" Alex's instincts kicked in as he got in front of the man. "What happened? Are you okay?"

"Careful Alex, is that guy even real?" Jax asked.

"...How did you get in here?!" The man asked, then shook his head. "Nevermind! This monster is after me, don't let him get you either! Get out if you can!" The man then ran off in the other hallway.

"Come on, Jax! We gotta help this guy!" Alex encouraged.

"But how?! He said he was being chased by a mon-"

"Come on!" Alex grabbed Jax by the hoodie and the two ran down the hall trying to find the man. They went through turns in the halls and opened up every door to see if he was hidden in there. They ran for a while and no luck finding the man until they made it to an open area.

"WHAT THE HELL IS THAT?!" Alex and Jax shouted.

What they were refering to was the man they were chasing after was trapped in a corner in a large open area. And he was right about being chased by a monster as the monster trapping him was towering over the man. It had the body of a minotaur, but the face and horns of a devil while it also had what looked like sharp swords for nails.

"Wh-what do you want with me…?! Leave me alone!" The man shouted. "H-h-how did you even get here before me?! I-I-I was running from you!"

The monster chuckled and spoke in a deep distorted voice, **"You can say I took a shortcut, I knew you'd run here… And you won't accept me, so I guess I'll have to kill you…!"** It then grabbed the man with his large hand and held him up, causing the man to scream in both pain and fear. **"** **I am a shadow… The true self…"** The creature then all of a sudden used one of it's sword nails… to stab the man in the stomach as the sword went completely through him!

Alex and Jax's eyes and mouths were wide with fear and shock. They just saw a gigantic monster STAB a man straight into the stomach! And he had no idea why, but Alex had the urge to do something. He stepped forward and shouted, "HEY!"

The monster turned around hearing Alex. It grinned seeing the two and threw the now dead man down like a doll. **"Well, it looks like we have intruders, young ones nonetheless."**

"I don't know what you are, but what you did to that man is disgusting!" Alex shouted.

"Alex! Are you freaking stupid?!" Jax yelled.

"You killed him in cold blood! What do you have to say to that?!" Alex asked.

The monster laughed at Alex's words, **"Foolish child, I am a shadow, if it's remorse you're looking for I do not possess it."** It turned it's entire body towards the two. **"Killing that man was a little too easy, maybe I can have some more fun killing you two children."**

"Oh NO! OH NO! We are out of here! Come on, Alex! Let's get out of- HERE!" Jax shouted as both he and Alex barely missed a swing from the monster's giant hand! They would've gotten hit if Alex didn't tackle Jax to the ground.

This caused Jax to start panicking in gibberish, but he was able to get out, "I-I'm tougher than this! I shouldn't be scared as a girl…!"

Alex got off of Jax and stood back up, "Stay down, Jax! We are not dying in here!"

"Alex, how can you be acting so brave?!" Jax asked.

Even Alex didn't know the answer to that. He was normally dimwitted, silly, and sometimes a coward. But something made him stand up to this monster, could be the possible danger involved or just survival instincts.

" **Idiot children! If you were smart enough you'd run!"** The monster said. **"Then again..."** It smiled as it used both of it's hands to send Alex and Jax back flying opposite directions across the room.

"OW!" Jax shouted.

"UGH!" Alex shouted.

" **I like playing with my victims…"** It's grin turned more sadistic as it turned over to look at Jax. **"And since you're the most cowardly, you'll die first."**

"No… NO…!" Jax shouted, trying to crawl back as the monster raised a sword nail to attack. "HELP!"

 _[Background Music: Persona 3 OST: Persona Invocation]_

Jax's shout echoed in Alex's ears as time suddenly seemed to stop around him. When time stopped, what seemed like blue flame surrounded him.

"Wh-what's going on…?!" He shouted. That's when he saw the plain mask he held before falling asleep fall into his hands. The difference however was the mask was no longer plain black; it was now mostly red with some black and white designs on it. As he looked at it, he then heard the voice from the previous night:

" _ **When thou in need, call my name..."**_

With hearing these words and the flames still moving around him, he forced himself up as a look of determination appeared on his face. He looked down at the mask again, slowly moved it towards his face while saying…

"Per…

...so…

...na!"

At that instant outside of the flames, time resumed and just as the monster was about to slash Jax, the flames let out a large explosion, stopping the monster.

 _[Background Music: Persona 3 OST: Unavoidable Battle]_

" **GRRR…! What was that…?!"** The monster growled. But then it looked in shock when it saw what was now happening. **"...It can't be…!"**

Alex stepped out, finally being seen by the viewers, but his outfit looked different. Along with the red, white, and black mask on, he now had on a gray collared shirt that looked like armor, a long dark red jacket, black gloves, gray pants, and black boots. The blue fire continued to move behind him causing his brown hair and the jacket to flow with the wind it was forming.

But that wasn't all as a figure began to appear through the blue fire and float above Alex. This figure looked male and was clad head to toe with red and white armor. His head and face was metal looking like a helmet with two yellow eyes glowing out of it as well as having his own long brown hair and black flowing cape. He was also holding a long royal looking silver and red sword.

Jax was no longer scared, but more of shock and surprise as his jaw was agape. What happened to his new friend just now? "What… in the HELL?"

" **So… you have the power of Persona, don't you? But you didn't manifest a shadow!"** The monster said. **"No matter, you will still die!"** The monster roared as it charged towards Alex.

Alex, with his determined look still, narrowed his eyes towards the creature and pointed forward, "Odysseus! Attack!"

Odysseus charged towards the creature and almost got hit with a punch but was able to swiftly dodge it and kneed it in the face, sending the monster stumbling back slightly. It began charging again, but Odysseus rammed his head forward and sent it down to the ground. He then lifted up his sword and went for a slash with the monster rolling out of the way, getting back up, and punching Odysseus in the midsection.

"AH!" Alex shouted in pain holding his midsection and dropping to a knee. Then when the monster punched Odysseus in the back, Alex held onto his back as well. "Ugh!" It seemed whenever Odysseus got hit, Alex felt the pain.

Seeing this as a moment, the monster ran over and grabbed Alex with it's hand, increasing the pain. **"Even with a Persona, you can't beat me!"**

"AH!" Alex groaned in pain, trying to struggle out. But he was able to be set free when Odysseus tackled the monster down again, letting go of Alex and having him fall on his butt. "...Thanks."

Odysseus gave a nod before kneeing at the monster again. The monster was getting weak, it was slowly getting up.

It was here Alex had an idea. "Odysseus! Bufu!"

At this command, Odysseus's pointed his sword at the monster which caused a large piece of ice to encase it and explode on it. The monster roared in extreme pain at this attack.

" **No… I won't… Let you beat me!"** The monster shouted.

"Sorry big guy, but this battle is over!" Alex said. He put two fingers on his mask before issuing another attack. "Hit him with Cleave!"

Odysseus nodded at Alex again before charging forward and slashing the monster with his sword. The monster roared loudly as it had a huge cut on it's chest now.

"Okay, I think we can do one more! Finish it off with Power Slash!" Alex commanded.

With a close up of his glowing yellow eye, Odysseus charged one more time, and with one diagonal slash, the sword went completely through the monster. The monster released one final dying roar before it dissolved into darkness.

 _[Background Music: None]_

Once the monster was gone, Alex was breathing heavily. Jax however, stood up with his mouth as wide open as he could. He walked over to Alex looking at him.

"That… was… AWESOME!" Jax suddenly had a huge smile on his face and began talking really fast. "Ididn'tevenknowyouhadacoolpowerlikethat! Howdidyougetit?! Holyshitthatwassofreakingcool!"

"Jax, Jax, calm down..." Alex rubbed his head.

"Sorry, it's just… wow! You even have a kick ass outfit! I didn't know you had something like that!" Jax said.

"Neither did I..." Alex said.

"You were very brave too! And when I first met you yesterday you just seemed like a silly goofball." Jax said.

"Heh, may have been survival instincts, the fight or flight response you know?" Alex chuckled. He then looked behind him and saw Odysseus was still floating above him. "...What exactly are you?" He asked.

" _ **I am a Persona of the Fool Arcana."**_ Odysseus said. **_"I am the King of Ithaca, Odysseus, and I shall fight by your side."_** Odysseus then turned into a bluish orb and looked like he went inside Alex's mask as the mask glowed for a second after the orb touched it.

"...A Persona…?" Alex whispered. He carefully took off the mask causing him to return to his casual clothes and turned to Jax, "Jax, we have to get out of here."

"Good idea! I had enough of this place for toni-" Jax looked over where the man's now dead body fell… and it wasn't there. "...Wasn't the dead body there?"

Alex looked at the direction, but as he did he suddenly heard some strange noises. He didn't know exactly what they were, but they sounded like shrieking. "Jax! Let's get out of here!"

"Right behind you!" Jax said, hearing the noises as well.

Alex and Jax began running from the direction they came and ran as fast as they could. As they did, they avoided some strange dark slimy creatures, which sounded like they were making that noise.

"What are those things?!" Jax asked.

"No time to think on that now!" Alex shouted as the two were able to make it through the prison halls and to the golden door. Once they ran through the door and closed it, they ran into a white light on the darkened wall and disappeared into it.

* * *

So... what do you think? I hope I did the Persona series justice with Alex getting his Persona here. And yes, I may not have Persona 5 yet, but I am using masks and outfits for this fic, sounded cooler for them to use.

See ya next chapter!


	3. The Demon Inside

Hey readers! Yes, another chapter really quick! Guess I've just been really into this, but I'm glad I'm getting something done at least. Hope you enjoy this chapter because shiz happens! Read and find out!

* * *

 **Chapter 3: The Demon Inside**

 _[Background Music: Persona 3 OST: The Poem for Everyone's Souls]_

Alex found himself sitting back in the Velvet Room, the room he was in for the first dream he had before arriving at Silvercrest. And just like the first time, Igor and Margaret were sitting in front of him.

"Hello Alexander. It is so nice to see you again." Igor greeted. "You went into the Dream World with your friend and it was there you awakened your power. I see it was Odysseus that heeded your calling, very interesting. That power you possess is a Persona, it is a manifestation of your psyche.

"Uh… what do you mean by my psyche…?" Alex asked.

Igor chuckled, "I know it's difficult to understand. A Persona is like a mask that protects you as you brave hardships. You used it to save yourself and your new friend from danger. However, your power is still weak."

"How is it weak? I beat the crap out of that monster!" Alex said.

"When you use your Persona, you must channel inner strength. But you, young Alexander..." Igor moved his hands up as 20 cards appeared on the table. At first they were all face down with the back having what looked like a two-toned mask, but then at the same time all the cards moved face up, all of them having a different type of picture on them. "Your Persona Odysseus… has the ability of the Wild Card."

"The Wild Card? What's that?" Alex asked.

Igor grabbed one of the cards and held it up. The card had a picture of what looked like a jester with a dog on it. "Tell me, what is the number on the bottom of this card?"

Alex looked at the card and saw the number on the bottom, which was a zero. "It's zero."

"Correct! The number zero may look like nothing, but at the same time it holds many possibilities." Igor said.

"What my master is trying to say is with your Persona is part of the Fool Arcana. But because of it having the Wild Card ability, unlike most Persona users who can only wield one, you can wield multiple Personas." Margaret explained.

"Wait… I can use more than one Persona? That's awesome!" Alex said.

"But in order to be able to use multiple Personas, you must create Social Links. You create Social Links by forming emotional bonds with others around." Igor said. "The stronger your Social Links, the more power to your ability. Do you understand?"

"Sort of..." Alex said, unsure.

"Don't worry, you'll get it soon. But before we depart, I must hand you this." A key suddenly appeared in the air and fell on Alex's lap. "That is the Velvet Key. With you signing the contract at our first meeting, you now can visit here any time. And also, now that you can use a Persona, you can go into the Dream World at any night and not just on a rainy night."

"Now then, until next time..."

Seconds later, Alex was enveloped by light and faded out of the Velvet Room.

* * *

 _Date: Tuesday, August 15th_

 _[Background Music: Persona 4 OST: Youthful Lunch]_

"And then the monster killed the man and Alex shouted at him to stop, but the monster hit us and sent us flying. But when the monster was about to kill me, this thing called a Persona named Odysseus came out of behind Alex and it kicked the monster's ass!"

Jax was telling the friends at the lunch table what happened in the Dream World the previous night. Although by the looks of the four at the table and the fact the background music stopped at that moment and crickets were heard chirping, they did not look amused.

"...Cool story, Jax, but it was just a dream." Kaylen said.

"No it wasn't, I swear!" Jax said as real as he could. "The Dream World is real! I fell asleep right at midnight and so did Alex and it actually happened!"

"And it was just a dream, you dingbat! Stop talking about the Dream World myth! It does not exist!" Rayna said.

"Although that was a pretty cool story." Owen admitted.

"Come on, guys!" Jax shouted.

"What's going on?" Alex walked over to the table with his lunch, but instantly got grabbed on the shoulders by Jax. "Hey!"

"Alex, I told these guys about what happened last night in the Dream World and they won't believe me! You tell them since you were there!" Jax shook Alex.

"Whoa whoa whoa!" Alex put his arms up to stop Jax from shaking him. "I don't think me telling them is going to change their minds, Jax."

"But you were there!" Jax shouted.

"Wait, what do you mean, Alex?" Ember asked. "Don't tell me you're playing along with Jax's dream story as well?"

"...You told them everything?" Alex asked.

Jax nodded, "Everything, even the Persona thing."

Alex turned his head over at his new friends and took a deep breath, "Hate to break it to you, but… Jax isn't lying, the Dream World actually exists, I was actually there. Everything he said really did happen."

The four sitting down looked at each other. After they did, Kaylen asked, "So… You actually were in a prison in the Dream World?"

"Yeah." Alex nodded.

"And you actually saw a guy get killed by some minotaur demon thing?" Ember asked.

"Again yeah." Alex said.

"And you got a mask that caused you to get a Persona?" Owen asked.

"Again again yeah." Alex said.

"And then you used that Persona to beat the piss out of that thing?" Rayna asked.

"For the fourth time, yeah." Alex said for the fourth time.

The others continued to look at Alex for a while, and the only thing that happened after a few seconds… was Rayna busting out laughing.

"Oh god this is hilarious!" Rayna laughed. "How much did Jax pay you to say this, Alex?! I mean, a "Persona"? What IS that?!"

"Rayna...!" Jax whined.

Rayna held onto her stomach and continued laughing until she finally calmed down. When she did, she looked at Alex, "Tell you what, if you're so sure this world exists, then on the next rainy day I will prove you wrong. I will even go to sleep right at midnight and show you!"

"Deal!" Jax shouted. After that, the table went silent as everyone went to eating their food.

Alex remembered what Igor said though and whispered to Jax, "Hey Jax… maybe we don't have to wait."

"What do you mean? We can only go there on rainy nights." Jax said.

"Well… I have a theory that since I can use a Persona, maybe I can go in there even when it's not raining." Alex said, saying it was a theory even though Igor himself told him he could.

Jax's eyes widened, "Really?! ...Actually that does sort of make sense." He then frowned. "But you're the only one with a Persona, only you can go in."

"...Unless you're near me when I fall asleep and you do the same." Alex suggested.

"Are you suggesting a sleepover?" Jax asked. "Will you have to ask your parents about that?"

"I can do that right now." Alex took out his phone from his pocket and began texting Sarah.

As the two were talking however, Ember was listening in. She looked… intrigued by what they were saying. "Hey Alex, if your parents say yes… mind adding in one more?"

Alex looked surprised at this, "What do you mean, Ember?"

"I'll admit… I feel like I want to see if what you're saying is real or not. So if your theory works, I'll see for myself." Ember said.

Both Alex and Jax grinned at this, "Okay Em, I'll ask." Alex texted his parents again to add in Ember. A few seconds later he got a response. "Mom said she's surprised I'm already inviting people for a sleepover, but she said sure."

"Yes! Sleepover!" Jax threw his arms up. "Hope Alex is right about taking us in there as well, we'll show you, Ember!"

"Oh boy… There's the Jayden fan club again..." Kaylen said with a roll of her eyes, looking over at a table full of girls who were looking and giggling at a male student sitting at a table with two other students. This student had tan skin, gray eyes, black hair that went down almost to his shoulders, had some slight facial hair on his chin, and wore a black tank top, gray unbuttoned shirt on top of it, black pants, and black shoes.

"My guess that kid is the heartthrob of the school?" Alex asked looking over. "If he is I can see why, he is good looking."

"Yep, that's Jayden Anoa'i, high school senior heartthrob as well as the son of Silvercrest's mayor Joe Anoa'i." Owen explained.

"He's the mayor's son?" Alex asked.

"Yeah he is… sad thing is though because of his dad being mayor… his family isn't that well liked." Kaylen said with a sigh. "Joe became mayor of Silvercrest three years ago after his cousin Dwayne ended his term and retired. It started off okay at first, but then Joe did some things as mayor that everyone hated, even though he was just doing his job and they weren't even extreme things. Even Jayden's mom Jade has been getting hate by people and she hasn't done anything."

"Wow… that's got to be hard on him." Alex said.

"You know what else is sad? The fact that even before his dad became mayor and since middle school, Jayden's had girls drooling over him. They drool over him and fantasize about him because he's so sexy!" Rayna said the second sentence in a girly voice. "And the fact that's all they see him as, a sexy face."

"I keep suggesting we should invite him to hang out with us, but we never do that." Ember said. "We have talked to him sometimes though."

"Who knows? Maybe he can be a new friend Alex makes." Own said with a small laugh.

"Give it some time, Owen. I think I've met enough friends in three days." Alex laughed.

* * *

 _[Background Music: Persona 3 OST: Joy]_

After school, Alex and Ember followed Jax to his house as he said he had to give them something. They were currently waiting in Jax's room as he was looking.

"Wonder what Jax wants to give us." Ember wondered.

"Whatever it is, it's taking a long time for him to find it." Alex said, tapping his foot as he sat on Jax's bed.

Just then the bedroom door swung open, causing Alex and Ember to jump.

"Ho ho ho! Merry Christmas!" Jax called out walking in with a large bag. "And I come bearing gifts, gifts that'll help us when we explore the Dream World tonight."

"That is if we do go in together, Jax." Alex said. "But what did you find?"

"I got weapons we can use!" Jax said opening up the bag and handing Alex a sword!

"WHOA!" Alex's jaw dropped at the sword. "Is… Is this even a real sword?"

"Well, these weapons aren't really strong metal and will probably break after a while but they'll work for now." Jax smiled. "Use that since Odysseus uses a sword, you can fight like him."

"Um… where did these weapons come from, Jax?" Ember asked.

"My mom and dad had these along with a few others in the garage. Don't worry, they won't know they're missing." Jax reached into the bag and handed Ember a naginata. "And for you, Em."

Ember looked at the naginata in surprise, "Why did you give this one to me?"

"Because I think it could work for you." Jax said taking out a pair of brass knuckles. "And plus the knuckles are my weapon of choice."

"My guess is when we fall asleep, we should hold onto these so hopefully they come with us." Alex said.

"Worth a try, if it works." Ember said.

* * *

Later that night, the three friends were at Alex's house. They were able to sneak the bag of three weapons into his room and hide it. Right now, Alex along with his parents, Jax, and Ember were sitting in the living room eating their spaghetti dinner while watching TV.

"Mmm! Mrs. Gerdelman, this is the best spaghetti I've ever had!" Jax said with a mouthful of spaghetti as he gobbled it down causing him to have sauce on his face. "My mom's is a close second but this is the best!"

"Thank you, Jax. Just don't eat too much, I don't want you to get sick during a sleepover." Sarah chuckled as Alex too was eating his food fast. He slurped up a noodle and burped.

Ember shook her head watching her guy friends eat, "Boys."

 _[Background Music: None]_

Just then on the TV, a breaking news update interrupted the show and the anchorwoman from the local news appeared.

"We interrupt this program to bring breaking news from Silvercrest. A local police detective was just declared dead this evening. According to his fiancee, he's been asleep for the past four days and hasn't woken up. From what she spoke of, he was still breathing until she checked earlier and saw he was no longer breathing. The police are still looking at the cause of Henry Hastings's death, and it seems this detective died a similar way. They still think it could be a coma, but they are looking into it. The name of the detective we haven't gotten yet, but here is a picture of him."

The news showed a picture of the now deceased police detective. When the picture showed up however, Alex's eyes went wide.

"Hey..." Alex whispered over to Jax. "That guy looks like the guy we saw get killed by that monster in the Dream World!"

Jax looked closely and his eyes widened too. "...Holy shit… that is him! But… his body was no longer there after you beat the monster's ass!"

Ember caught the whispering, "Is everything okay?"

The boys looked at Ember, then Alex turned to his parents and said. "Thanks for the dinner, Mom! But now it's time for us to go to bed! Night!" He gave both of his parents a hug before the three of them dashed up the stairs to his room.

"Hey wait!" Ember followed them.

Sarah looked at Frankie confused, "Well that was fast, they just finished dinner."

"Maybe the news report scared them?" Frankie asked. "Especially with just moving into this town."

"I know, but that was still strange." Sarah said.

"Don't worry about it, I'm sure he's fine." Frankie said with a smile.

* * *

 _[Background Music: Persona 3 OST: Troubled]_

As the three were waiting in Alex's room for midnight to approach, they told Ember about that person they saw on the news was the one that was killed in the Dream World.

"So you saw him get killed, but after Alex and this… Persona, defeated the monster, the body disappeared?" Ember asked.

"That's it." Alex said. "...Ember, before I moved here, did it rain during the night?"

"Well… it did rain for two nights in a row; one night three nights before you moved here and then it rained the night right after." Ember said. "And Rayna did tell me her dad was complaining because one the detectives wasn't calling in and not showing up."

Alex paced around his room, thinking about it for a bit, "Hmm… this might be a stretch, but they said Mr. Hastings died the same way the detective did. Maybe they both fell asleep at midnight on one of those rainy nights, stayed in there too long and couldn't get out so they were stuck in there which caused them to stay asleep until something killed them."

"So… you're saying if they die in the Dream World, they die in real life?" Jax asked. He then shuddered, "Sounds like some Nightmare on Elm Street shit!" That's when Jax thought of something. "Hey! If this thing with us going into the Dream World with Alex works tonight, maybe if there's anyone else in there that can't get out, we could save them and bring them back to the real world to wake them up!"

"That sounds like a good idea, we just have to see if it does work like we keep hoping." Ember said.

"Speaking of that..." Alex said looking at his alarm which read 11:55. "We should probably get ready."

With that said, the three grabbed their weapons, turned out the lights, and laid down on the floor together with blankets. And just to be safe, they held each others' arms so they were together.

"...This feels super awkward..." Jax whispered.

"Shut up." Ember said.

They then closed their eyes and dozed off as the alarm clocked switched to midnight.

* * *

 _[Background Music: Persona 4 OST: Who's There?]_

Through the white light, Alex walked through it and ended up in dark walls of the entrance to the Dream World. When he walked through, surprisingly Jax and Ember showed up behind him. All three were also still holding their weapons.

"Holy crap… It worked!" Alex said as he saw Jax and Ember with him.

"Freak yeah!" Jax shouted. "Now whenever we want to go to the Dream World, we can just sleep near Alex and we can come in here!"

"We wouldn't want his parents and ours to get suspicious though." Ember said. "But that is cool you can actually do this, Alex. Although… is this really all the Dream World is?"

"Not exactly, there's a door over there we can enter." Alex pointed to the golden door in front of them. "I wonder if it's still the prison."

"Well I guess we're going to have to find out!" Jax said as he ran over to the door and opened it.

When they opened it up, it wasn't the prison anymore. Instead, it looked like some sort of… convention center. There were comic books all over the ground, posters draping on the walls, and superhero action figures just there on shelves. The whole place looked dark and deary.

"...What is this? Comic Con after the apocalypse?" Jax asked.

"I don't know, but it's creepy." Ember said.

"Seems the places change every time." Alex said. "Come on, let's see if we can find anyone."

The three made their way into the dream convention center. But just as they walked a few feet, one of the large action figures shook and it suddenly turrned into those black slimy things. This thing however looked like it had a blue mask on it. This creature was called the Maya, more specifically the blue masked ones are the Cowardly Maya.

"What is that?" Ember asked seeing the Maya. "It looks like… moving tar!"

That's when the Maya began to move towards the trio causing the two to slowly move back.

"And it doesn't look friendly!" Jax said. But he looked at Alex, "Alex! This is your chance to show Ember your Persona!"

Alex heard Jax, but instead of doing that, he ran forward and hit the Maya with the sword, causing it to disappear in only two hits. "...I don't think these guys are going to be hard to beat with our weapons."

"...That's it? Ha! Getting through here will be a snap!" Jax said. But as he said that, five more action figures began to move. "Oh god, more of them are coming, are there?"

And more of them there were as five Cowardly Mayas appeared and began moving towards the trio.

"These guys are easy to take down, let's get them!" Ember called out, holding onto her naginata.

"Good idea!" Alex nodded as they went towards the Mayas and Alex landed the first hit on one of them. Cue the battle music!

 _[Background Music: Persona 4 OST: Reach Out To The Truth]_

"Haha! Gotcha!" Alex said as took one of the Mayas out in once again two hits.

"Another one down, Alex! My turn!" Jax ran forward, brass knuckles equipped, and hit a Maya with both of them. It however did not go down. "I couldn't finish that one off!" That same Maya moved over and slapped Jax with its slimy hand. "Ah!"

"I'll take that one!" Ember ran to the Maya that just hit Jax and attacked it with the naginata, making it disappear and leaving three left. "Yes, I got it!"

"Good one, Em!" Jax commented, that was until a Maya came up attacked Alex with a piece of ice exploding at him. "Alex!"

"I'm fine, I'm fine!" Alex waved his hand and shook his head.

"Was that ice?!" Ember asked before she was slapped by a Maya herself. "Ah!"

Alex pushed himself up and ran at the Maya that hit Ember and hit it with his sword with one hit, it didn't go down. "Finish that one off, Jax!"

"Got it!" Jax ran up and gave it one punch, sending it to disappear. "Alright!"

"Two to go!" Ember called out as she ran up at one and hit it with the naginata. It looked like the Maya went flat after the hit.

"I'll hit this next one!" Jax said running up to the still moving one and before it hit him, he socked it with a punch and caused it to go flat too. "They're not moving, I think this is our chance for an all-out attack!"

With that said by Jax and after a comic-like close-up with Alex, Jax's, and Ember's faces, the three ran in together forming a dust cloud as they attacked the last two Mayas. The cloud subsided and the Mayas disappeared, ending the fight.

 _[Background Music: Persona 3 OST: Tartarus 2nd Floor]_

"That… was actually kinda fun." Ember admitted with a chuckle.

"It was awesome!" Jax then turned to Alex. "But you could've shown Ember Odysseus! Why didn't you do that?!

"These things seemed easy to take down, if there's a stronger thing here, then I'll try." Alex said. "Although if we're lucky we hope it doesn't happen."

"...Good point." Jax said, remembering the previous night. "...Shall we keep looking and see if anyone is in here?"

"Let's keep looking." Alex nodded and the three continued in.

For a while the trio looked around the dream convention center to see if anyone was trapped in there. But after fighting Cowardly Mayas and looking through all of the place, they couldn't find anything or anybody.

"Guess we got no one to save, we've looked everywhere." Alex said.

"Well minus the slime thingy fighting which got old after a while, this has been a waste of time." Jax sighed.

"Might as well head back, maybe some other time?" Ember suggested as she began to walk.

 _[Background Music: None]_

...Until they suddenly heard a voice from above them.

" _Oh man, if only I could be as brave as the heroes in these comics..."_

"...Who said that?" Alex called out. "Is someone there? You need help?"

"Did someone just talk…?" Ember asked. "It sounds like it… came from above us..."

Jax however recognized that voice… it was HIS voice! Panic formed on his face as his looked over and saw a flight of stairs and quickly ran up it.

"Jax, wait!" Alex saw Jax running and he and Ember followed him.

"Something is up! That voice is my voice!" Jax shouted.

"YOUR voice?!" Ember asked.

Jax was too fast for the other two as he made it to the top way before they did, but when he did he wasn't sure what to think. In front of him was a room covered in comic posters and superhero movie posters. He slowly walked up and looked at them, and as he did he heard another voice.

" _Superheroes are so cool, Dad!"_ A voice of a little boy was heard. _"I want to be one when I grow up!"_

" _Being a superhero isn't easy son, you need to be brave and be strong."_ An adult voice was heard, it was the voice of Jax's dad, Fergal. Jax knew what this was.

"...I was five years old when I said that to Dad..." Jax said.

" _I can be brave and strong, Dad! I will show you and I will become a superhero! I promise!"_ The young Jax voice said excitedly.

" _I'd be proud of you even if you just became brave, and I know you can, Jax."_ Fergal's voice said.

Jax lowered his head, "Well, I was a very young kid..."

 _[Background Music: Persona 4 OST: Borderline of Madness]_

" **And a very dumb one at that!"** An eerily familiar voice was heard.

"Wha-!" Jax turned to where the voice came from and coming from another door in the room was… another Jax? But something was different about this Jax; he had the same hair, hoodie, and jeans, but instead of blue eyes they were golden and he had a dark purple haze moving around him along with a wide evil grin.

It was also at that moment that Alex and Ember arrived up and their eyes widened seeing this.

"Huh?!" Alex asked.

"...Two Jaxes?" Ember asked.

" **I really was a stupid little kid, was I? Thinking that I'd become a brave and powerful superhero when I grew up. I even promised my daddy that I'd do that! But to this day I'm not even close."** The clone said with a laugh.

"What… what are you talking about?" Jax asked.

" **Stop hiding it, Jaxson! You can't keep pushing it inside forever."** The clone said. **"You pretend you are find with how you are with being happy and silly all the time, but you're just making yourself look like a moron."**

"I am not a moron! You can't tell me that!" Jax said.

" **Says the guy who's too chicken to tell his true feelings to his best friend since childhood..."** The clone chuckled as he saw Jax's face freeze up. **"Ahhh… gotcha there huh?"**

"True feelings… true feelings for Rayna?" Ember asked.

" **You're in love with Rayna, you really really like her, you have since you were kids. But because you say she doesn't think she'll see you that way, you stay in the friend zone. Although I know the true reason, you are a big coward to tell her how you really feel!"** The clone said.

"No… It's… It's not that…!" Jax was looking upset.

" **Don't believe me? How about a more recent example? ...How about… Last night, your first venture into the Dream World. You and your new friend Alex came in and confronted a Shadow. But Alex was the one who stood up and defeated it. And what did you do? Cower into the corner and whimper until it was all over!"** The clone then smirked, **"And in your head, you were jealous of Alex… Jealous that he had the courage to stand up and do what he could. So you wanted to come back to the Dream World as soon as possible so you could have a second chance to try and play hero!"**

"...Is that true, Jax?" Alex asked.

"N-no! It's not! This asshole is speaking BS!" Jax shouted.

" **I'm speaking BS, huh? Maybe I do know what you're thinking. Or maybe it's because… I AM you!"** The clone's grin grew even louder.

"Who… who are you?!" Jax shouted.

" **I just said it, Jaxson, I AM you… And YOU are me… Admit you are using your friend's new power just to make you not look like a coward!"** The clone shouted.

"No… It's not true…! ...You're not me!" Jax shouted.

The clone's look got even more evil as Jax said that and began to chuckle, **"Go on… say it again..."**

"You're not me…! You're not me!" Jax shouted.

The clone's chuckle began to turn into a full maniacal laugh as the purple hazle began to swirl around him, **"You're right, I'm not you… not anymore! Now I'm becoming something much better!"** The haze then moved out towards the three and knocked them all down, causing Jax to suddenly get weak and nearly faint.

"JAX!" Both Alex and Ember shouted.

 _[Background Music: Persona 4 OST: I'll Face Myself -Battle-]_

The purple haze got larger and larger before it dissipated, revealing Jax's clone to now be a towering monster. It was all colored in black and its face was only one large red glowing eye and two devil horns. Its large chest had markings that looked like teeth on them, but its stomach was a real mouth and the teeth were sharp. It also had many long red snake-like tendrils coming out of its back. It got down on its hands and slowly moved towards the trio.

" **I am a shadow… the true self."** Jax's shadow spoke, with distortion in the voice.

"A shadow?!" Ember asked.

" **You really want to act brave, but all that comes out is being a cowardly moron! But even if you're using your new friend's ability to show that's not true, it will not work. Because it is here you'll die!"** Shadow Jax shouted.

"...Ember! You keep an eye on Jax, I'll take care of the shadow!" Alex said to Ember.

"What can I do?!" Ember asked in a panicked tone

Alex walked forward, "Just stay by his side."

Ember nodded and pulled Jax a good distance away from Shadow Jax. Once that was done, Alex closed his eyes and that's when his Persona mask floated in front of him.

"Persona!" With a shout Alex grabbed the mask and pushed it onto his face, and within a flash his new attire appeared on him as well as Odysseus floating above him sword in hand.

" **So you really do have the potential?"** Shadow Jax said before he chuckled. **"Very well, I'll kill you first!"** One of the red tendrils got longer and went towards Alex.

"Cleave!" Alex called out and with that call, Odysseus slashed his sword at the tendril and it got cut in half!

" **Agggh…!"** Shadow Jax shouted in pain, and then laughed as the tendril regrew to it's normal size. **"You think THAT will take me down?! Think again!"** Another tendril came down and slapped at Odysseus, causing Alex to hold his chest and skid back.

"...I need to be more careful..." Alex said to himself. He looked up at Shadow Jax and called out, "Hit it with Bufu!" Odysseus threw out a block of ice and it exploded at the shadow. Shadow Jax groaned at the hit. "I think we got something, Odysseus! Keep attacking with Bufu!"

Odysseus let out a barrage of Bufu attacks, hitting Shadow Jax and hearing the shouting of pain. As this was happening, Ember was watching in awe.

"So this WAS true… Alex really does have a Persona..." She said quietly.

After a few more hits and looking like Shadow Jax was going to keel over, Alex smirked as he put two fingers on his mask. "I think we got him! Finish it off! Power Slash!"

Odysseus charged towards Shadow Jax, having his sword up ready to finish him off…

" **...Fire Breath!"** Shadow Jax shouted as fire suddenly came out of the mouth on its stomach. It hit directly at Odysseus, causing Alex to feel like his body was painfully burning.

"AHH!" Alex screamed. He dropped to his knees and wrapped his arms around him.

Shadow Jax laughed, **"Not as tough as you thought you were, huh?"** It let out a shout as it lifted up a large hand and backhanded Alex and Odysseus into the air, landing hard on the ground.

"ALEX!" Ember shouted.

"Ugh… Dammit…!" Alex cringed in pain slowly sitting up as Odysseus couched next to him. "I thought we had him there and he was messing with us! We need to take him down!"

" _ **It's because of Jaxson."**_ Odysseus said in Alex's mind.

"Huh? ...Jax?" Alex asked, looking over at Jax who was muttering to himself.

"That's… That's not who I am..." He muttered.

" _ **The shadow version of Jaxson manifested his inner hidden thoughts. It did the same for that police detective and it did the same to your friend."**_ Odysseus said.

"So… if Jax can admit to his inner thoughts… the shadow could be weakened?" Alex asked as Odysseus nodded his head. Nodding back at his Persona, Alex slowly pushed himself up and turned to Jax. "JAX!"

Jax looked up in surprise at Alex's shout and so did Ember.

"You have to admit your inner thoughts!" Alex shouted.

"But… that's not me… I can't…!" Jax yelled.

Right when Jax yelled this, Shadow Jax laughed even more and looked like he was charging up for a devastating attack.

"Jax! Listen to me!" Alex shouted. "We all have things we don't want to admit or let others know! But you have to let them go or else they'll take over!"

"But-"

"I know it's hard, Jax… But we all can help you. Me, Ember, Rayna, and the others. Please. You want to have courage and be brave… Maybe you can start here." Alex said.

Jax looked down and sighed. After a few seconds, he slowly stood up. "...I understand…"

" **Time for you all to die-"** Just as Shadow Jax was about to release its attack, it all of a sudden felt weakened. **"H-huh?! What's happening?!"**

"Okay, I'll admit, I am a coward… but after today, I will no longer be!" Jax declared, looking up at his shadow self. "Starting now, I am going to make the promise I made to my dad when I was a kid come true! And this time, I will not use anybody, it'll be on my own!"

" **No…! This… this can't…!"** Shadow Jax shouted, its power getting weaker by the second thanks to Jax.

" _ **The shadow is slowly getting weak, here's our chance to attack again."**_ Odysseus said.

"That worked fast." Alex said as he got up to his feet. "Bufu now!" Odysseus blasted another Bufu at Shadow Jax, this time looking like it dealt more damage. "Hit it with another for good measure!" Alex ordered and Odysseus did just that.

" **AGGH!"** Shadow Jax screamed. Despite its weakness now, it once again tried to backhand Odysseus. Luckily Odysseus was able to dodge it and stabbed the stomach mouth of Shadow Jax! **"AHHH!"**

Seeing Shadow Jax was nearly done for, Alex sheathed his sword and held it the same angle Odysseus was with his. Then, with a horizontal split screen, showing Odysseus's eyes on the top and Alex's eyes on the bottom, Alex… called out with a shout as they both charged...

"POWER SLASH!"

Both Odysseus and Alex slashed their swords into Shadow Jax with Alex jumping in the air to do so.

" **AHHHHHH!"** Shadow Jax screamed in pain as it evaporated into the dark purple smoke. Shadow Jax was defeated.

 _[Background Music: Persona 4 OST: I'll Face Myself]_

Once things settled down, Alex was panting heavily. He was visibly sweating under his mask as he put a finger on it to send Odysseus back into it. He still had on his outfit though. Then he looked over to Jax, who was just standing there.

"...Jax… You okay…?" Ember walked up behind him.

"Yeah… at least I think so." Jax said. As he said that, the purple haze subsided and Shadow Jax was back to the clone version. He was standing there, staring at Jax with a blank stare. With a deep breath, Jax walked up to it.

"Alex… I'm sorry I used you getting your new power as an excuse… I shouldn't be your friend because of this..." Jax said.

"Jax, it's fine… I won't stop being your friend for this." Alex said. "You wanted to be brave… and I think what you did here was a start."

"I think it was a great start." Ember said. "You stood up to your dark self and helped Alex take it down."

"Just think how much more you could do." Alex said.

Jax gave a small smile looking at his friends before looking back at his shadow self, "It is true I am a coward, but I really badly want to change that. And as those two guys said this is a start. I didn't want to admit that, but I hated keeping it in. But it does feel better letting it out. And now, I will say it… you are me, and I am you."

Shadow Jax's mouth turned up into a small smile and nodded. He then glowed a blue color and floated above him before the glowing was turned into a new figure. The figure was more humanoid with the top half of its face and the entire neck being black with white and black eyes. The rest of its body was a burnt dark orange-red color with markings that looked like teeth going around its chest and up its neck and chin. It had a muscular body and armor on its legs that looked like it was burnt. And on its head were many black and red long hair-like things and its fists had spiked knuckles.

" _ **I am a Persona of the Chariot Arcana. I am the God of Blight, Balor, and I shall fight by your side."**_ Jax's Persona said before he turned into a bluish orb, transformed into a mask, and fell into Jax's hands. The mask was a half mask, but skull shaped and it was black at the top with an eye in the middle of the black, dark orange-red in the middle, and what looked like white sharp teeth on the bottom.

"I got… a Persona..." Jax whispered as he looked at the mask in awe. Then he dropped to a knee in exhaustion.

"Jax!" Alex and Ember shouted running to him.

"I'm fine… Just tired..." Jax said.

"Come on, let's get out of here for tonight." Alex said as he and Ember helped Jax up and headed back to the entrance.

* * *

 _[Background Music: Persona 4 OST: Who's There?]_

The three safely made it back to the entrance and closed the golden door. After they did, they sat down on the floor and took a deep breath.

"Shouldn't we head back into our world before we rest?" Ember asked.

"Just a few minutes." Alex said, taking off his mask and having his Persona attire go away. "So Ember… what do you think?"

"Well now I believe the Dream World exists, but how are we going to get the others to believe it?" Ember asked. "We can't have everyone keep going to Alex's place for sleepovers, that'll seem weird."

"True that." Jax chuckled laying on his back. He then sat up as he had a thought. "Alex? When we saw that police detective get killed, you think that monster that killed him… was his shadow?"

"That is a possibility." Alex said.

"I say so too… sadly he had no one to defend him and he didn't accept it..." Ember said softly.

Alex sighed and stood up, "Rest time is done, let's head back." He grabbed the arms of his two new friends and they went through the white light.

* * *

Phew! Yep, second Persona obtained! How did I do here? And with the battles with the smaller shadows, I plan to do at least one per episode when they are in the Dream World. If you want to see more or not see them at all, let me know.

See ya!


	4. True Friends?

Hey guys! Another chapter up and I honestly... could've done better but it's the best I can do at the moment. But I'll see how others think before I judge. Enjoy if you want!

* * *

 **Chapter 4: True Friends?**

 _Date: Wednesday, August 16th_

 _[Background Music: Persona 3 OST: Want To Be Close]_

Alex stepped onto the Silvercrest High School grounds making his way towards the building. As he made his way to the door, he saw Jax and Ember talking to Rayna.

"You too Ember?! Geez what have you guys been eating before bed?" Rayna asked. "And I though the myth said you couldn't go in on non-rainy nights."

"That's what we're trying to tell you! Because of Alex's Persona power, he can go in whenever he wants and that includes people sleeping near him can go with him!" Jax said.

"Rayna, I'm one of the smartest people you know and I was there." Ember said. "At first I didn't believe it, but this world and the Personas are real. Hell Jax has one now!"

Rayna shook her head, "You guys may need to start taking pills, these dreams are taking over you." She then made her way into the school.

"No luck in convincing Rayna?" Alex asked walking over to the two.

Both Ember and Jax shook their heads as Ember said, "No luck with Kaylen and Owen either."

"They think we're crazy!" Jax said. "But we're not! It exists!"

"Well if they don't believe it, that's fine. Let's not shove it down their throats." Alex said.

"You're right, Alex. I'm going to head inside, see you at lunch." Ember said as she walked into the building. As she walked in however, the boys noticed her head was hanging down.

"...What's up with Ember?" Alex asked.

"I don't know, maybe she's in a bad mood?" Jax shrugged before turning to Alex. "Hey dude… thanks for helping me out in the Dream World last night."

"It wasn't just me that helped, Ember did too." Alex said with a small laugh.

"Yeah, but you kicked my shadow's butt and I got a Persona for it!" Jax said with a huge grin. "Which means I can go into the Dream World whenever I want too! So on rainy nights, maybe if anyone is trapped in there we can go save them! I think we'll be an unstoppable tag team together."

"A tag team doesn't sound to bad." Alex nodded.

"Yeah! Alexander and Jaxson teaming up alongside Odysseus and Balor! We will be an unstoppable force, baby!" Jax threw his arm up in the air proudly. "Hey, I didn't ask earlier, but want to exchange phone numbers?"

"Sounds like a plan." The two took out their cell phones and exchanged each others' phone numbers.

Once they put their phones away, Jax chuckled, "Sweet! You know Alex, we've only known each other since Sunday, but I have a feeling our friendship is going to get good."

And it was at that moment… Alex suddenly heard what sounded like glass shattering as time stopped around him.

 _[Background Music: Persona 3 OST: The Power of the Heart]_

"Huh?" Alex looked around seeing time stop. That's when a card appeared in front of him that had the two-toned mask on the back. He reached out to grab it, but his hand went right through. Instead the card turned over and revealed a picture of a king on a chariot.

He then heard a voice around him speak:

" _ **Thou art I… And I am thou…**_

 _ **Thou hast established a new bond… It brings thee closer to the truth…**_

 _ **Thou shalt be blessed with a Persona of the Chariot Arcana…"**_

After those words, the card disappeared, but before time resumed, Alex remembered words Igor said:

" _But in order to be able to use multiple Personas, you must create Social Links. You create Social Links by forming emotional bonds with others around. The stronger your Social Links, the more power to your ability."_

Once thinking on those words, time resumed with Alex thinking, _"Is this what Igor was telling me?"_

 _[Background Music: Persona 3 OST: Want To Be Close]_

He was snapped out of his thoughts when the bell rang. "Oh crap! We're going to be late for homeroom! We have to go!"

"Following you… even though we're in different homerooms!" Jax said as the two ran inside the school.

* * *

 _[Background Music: Persona 4 OST: Your Affection]_

The group of six friends decided to hang out for a while after school. They stopped at a gas station to get Popsicles and continued to walk around town enjoying their frozen treats.

"ACK! Extreme brain freeze and teeth freeze!" Jax's teeth chattered as he held his head with one hand and gave Owen his Popsicle to cover his mouth with the other hand

"That's what happens when you eat a Popsicle too fast, Jax." Kaylen grinned.

"Duh! I know that! I was just too excited to eat it!" Jax mumbled through his covered mouth.

"Let's go and do something!" Rayna said before looking over at Alex. "Since Alex is still the new guy, let's let him decide on what we should do."

"What should we do for the rest of the day, Alex?" Owen asked.

"Geez guys, I don't know everything here yet!" Alex laughed. He thought for a bit before asking, "Is there an arcade here? Maybe we can go there."

"We've got a pretty awesome bowling alley with an arcade with it, let's go there." Kaylen suggested.

"No bowling though, just for the arcade." Ember said.

"I can pay for pizza and cheese balls." Owen offered.

"Awesome! I won't have to harass Mom to make dinner." Alex said.

"Bowling alley here we come!" Jax sang as he and the rest made their way forward on the street. But they didn't keep going for long as they saw some cop cars at a house. "Oh come on! What happened now?"

 _[Background Music: Persona 3 OST: An Unpleasant Premonition]_

In front of the house, Rayna's dad Jon along with two other officers were talking near one of the cars. One of the officers had long black hair in a ponytail and a short beard while the other had short ginger hair and a short beard, he also was smiling even though they were police working.

"Dad? Everything okay here?" Rayna asked as the group walked over to see what was up.

"You here again, Rayna?" Jon asked.

"Sorry sir, we were just on our way to the bowling alley and we saw this." Owen said quietly.

Jon sighed, "It's fine, it's just… with losing Detective O'Brian and all..."

"Detective O'Brian? You mean the one we saw ge-" Alex was about to blurt out seeing the detective get killed in the Dream World, but was able to stop himself. "You mean the one we saw on the news who died?"

"That's the one." The gingered officer said with a sigh. "He was a good guy too, and to die just like that..."

"Shows any day can be your last..." The dark haired officer sighed as well.

"We're helping O'Brian's fiancee clean out the house, she's moving back with her parents for support." Jon said. "Speaking of, Sebei, Lopez, break time over, time to get back to work!"

"On it, Good!" Sebei nodded and ran back into the house.

"You're not the chief, you can't order us around." Lopez said.

Jon glared at Lopez, "You go back to work or I will tell the chief!"

"Okay okay, I'll go I'll go! Geez!" Lopez, looking scared, ran into the house as fast as he could.

Jon shook his head, "Colby Lopez… why did I get him as a partner?"

"So nothing bad is happening here?" Owen asked.

"No, just helping with cleanup." Jon answered. "You kids go and have fun at the bowling alley now, have to get back to work."

As Jon left, Rayna sighed, "Thank god it was just that. Now that we're good there, bowling alley!"

The friends were back in their chipper moods and they went on their way… except for Ember who looked towards the house. Alex and Jax saw this, noticing her somewhat quiet behavior throughout the day, and walked to her.

"Ember? Are you okay?" Alex asked.

"Huh?" Ember turned to them. "Oh… sort of. ...I keep thinking about last night in the Dream World and then remembering what you told me about seeing that detective get killed in there by a shadow." She looked at both of the boys. "I want to go back in there tonight."

Jax backed up a bit hearing that, "Why do you want to go back there, Em?"

"I want to see if there's anyone in there we can save..." Ember said softly.

"It hasn't rained for a few days, I don't think anyone will be in there." Alex said.

"Well you did tell me the two areas in the Dream World you saw were different, maybe whoever is in there or was in there, the area changes depending on their vision." Ember said.

"...That's a good point, Ember." Alex said.

"Wait… Because I was there, it changed to something I was familiar with, meaning I could've been next with this if Alex wasn't there to help!" Jax said, his eyes wide. "Someone else could be in there, we may just need to be there at the right time!"

"...Okay, we'll go in again tonight. And this time, Jax, you go to Ember's tonight so she can go with you since you have a Persona now." Alex said.

"Got it." Jax nodded. "I'll sneak out when my parents are asleep so they won't know I'm gone."

"Hey! You guys coming?" Rayna called out from ahead.

"Coming Rayna!" Alex called as the other three went to catch up.

* * *

 _[Background Music: Persona 4 OST: Who's There?]_

Later that night, at midnight to be exact, Alex and Jax with Ember in tow arrived into the entrance of the Dream World with their weapons in hand. Jax was able to sneak into Ember's home without either pair of parents noticing.

"Well, here we are aga-" Alex went to say before he saw Ember suddenly slap Jax.

"OW! What was that for?!" Jax shouted holding his cheek.

"I felt what you tried to do to me before we drifted off, pervert!" Ember shouted.

"I didn't mean to, Em! I swear! Besides, I'm saving that for Rayna." Jax said the last part with a smirk, but Ember slapped him again. "Ow!"

"Yeah, you and Rayna would be a perfect couple, you're both perverts." Ember shook her head.

"Um… you two done? We need to see if anyone is trapped in here." Alex said. "Or least Ember says we should."

"Yeah we're done." Ember said walking forward.

"But hang on, there's no golden door." Jax said, noticing that there was currently no golden door in the entrance. "Maybe there really is no one?"

Just as Jax said that, Alex felt a flash near him. He looked over and on the wall was a blue colored door. He walked over to it, but before he could put a hand on the handle, the Velvet Key he got from Igor floated down and went into the door, opening it for him.

 _[Background Music: Persona 3 OST: The Poem for Everyone's Souls]_

"Hello?" Alex walked through the door and found himself inside of the Velvet Room. And as usual, Igor and Margaret were in the middle of the room.

"Ah! Alexander, sit down. We've been expecting you." Igor said, motioning for Alex to take a seat.

Alex walked over and sat down in the seat, "You've been expecting me? For what?"

"Today, you formed your first Social Link." Igor grinned. "You formed the Chariot Arcana Social Link with a young Jaxson Devitt, who last night became a Persona user as well. You are currently at Rank 1 of the link, but if you build your bond even deeper, and this goes with the other ones you create in the future, they will eventually max out at Rank 10. Also, every time you start a Social Link, you will receive a Rank 1 Persona of that Arcana. Rank 1 Personas are not that strong, but you will receive a stronger one at Rank 5, and then when it gets maxed out, you will get the strongest Persona of that Arcana."

"...So you're saying I'm using my friends to make myself morer powerful? I… I don't think I can do that, sir. I want to be friends because I want to, not just because I have to." Alex said. "And plus it sounds really stupid. I will not use friends to give myself power."

Igor chuckled, "You're not necessarily using your friends, but if you continue your friendships, they'll change greatly as well. Social Links aren't just for your gain, but for everyone else as well as they too can get stronger and maybe even realize something about themselves. So you can still make friends you want and I have faith you will."

"...Well… if everyone else benefits from it too..." Alex admitted, then nodded.

Igor nodded as well, "Excellent! Margaret, shall you hand him his new Persona?"

Margaret opened up her book and a Chariot Arcana card floated out of it. It stayed in the air for a few seconds before it appeared as a figure in front of Alex. This figure looked like a knight in red armor and wore a yellow cape, was on the back of a black horse, and held a spear in its hand.

"This is Eligor and it is a Rank 1 Chariot Persona." Margaret explained. "Now you possess two Personas and you can switch them out at any time during battle."

Eligor looked down and nodded at Alex before it turned into an orb and went into Alex's chest, seemingly his heart.

"That is all for now." Igor said. "Until next time..."

 _[Background Music: Persona 4 OST: Who's There?]_

Alex walked out of the Velvet Room and almost instantly Ember and Jax ran up to him.

"Hey dude, are you alright? You don't look very good." Jax asked.

"I just went through this door right now." Alex said pointing behind him. But what he got in response were confused looks from the two.

"What door? I don't see a door there." Ember said.

"Yeah, you were just standing there doing nothing." Jax said. "You sick or something?"

" _How did they not see the Velvet Room door? Wait… can only I see it?"_ Alex asked to himself. He then spoke out loud. "I… was just thinking."

"You sure? You looked frozen. Anyway… Speaking of doors, while you were just standing there, the golden door appeared." Jax said, pointing to the now visible golden door.

"Well let's see if anyone is inside." Ember began walking towards it.

"Wait, before we do… Jax, let's put on our masks to get our Persona gear on." Alex said.

"Just our gear, not our Personas yet? Aww! I wanna see my Persona fight!" Jax pouted.

"If anything big and even more dangerous than those small shadow things appear, we can, but for now just our gear. It really does help with armor." Alex said.

"Fine..." Jax sighed. The two boys closed their eyes as their respective masks floated above them. And without saying anything, they grabbed the masks and put them on and in a flash they were in their battle gear.

"Wow Jax… Your gear looks awesome!" Alex commented.

"Even though I find Alex's to be better, I agree!" Ember commented as well.

Jax's outfit was his mask of course, but he had on a dark orange sleeveless shirt, black pants and combat boots, gray spiked shoulder pads, and black fingerless gloves with white flames on them.

"Damn…!" Jax looked at his outfit in awe. "I look badass as HELL!" He put on his brass knuckles and held up his fists. "Okay, now we can go in and save someone!"

Alex went up and opened the golden door. When he did though right at the sight of it, Ember's mouth opened, causing her to drop her naginata.

 _[Background Music: Persona 3 OST: Tartarus 4th Floor]_

Inside the door looked like a street of a city. There were houses down the street along with some trees. Strange thing was though, there were cars but they were stopped right in the middle of the road as well as dogs and cats that seemed to be frozen in mid run.

"Wow… Whoever has this in their thoughts, it must've been a previous home. Is it your's, Alex?" Jax asked.

"It's not mine, I don't even remember seeing this street." Alex said.

Not noticed by those two, Ember's eyes looked like they were about to water as she looked at what she saw. She bit her lip slightly before saying quietly, "...It's Tampa." She then pushed between the two and ran into the door and into the dream.

"Whoa! Wait a minute, Ember!" Jax shouted, nearly tripping over her naginata. "You forgot your weapon! Damn what's with the rush with her?!"

"I don't know but she looks like she's in a hurry." Alex said before running into the door.

"Wait up for me!" Jax said following Alex.

Ember ran as fast as she could down the sidewalk, she had an unreadable look on her face as she did.

"Mom, Dad, I swear if either of you are in here, I better not see you getting killed by shadows!" Ember said out loud to herself. As she did this, she didn't notice that four frozen in mid run dogs suddenly turned into four black and white striped floating orbs with lips and black tongues. These creatures were known as the Lying Hablerie.

"What the…? Are those different shadows?!" Jax asked as he and Alex stopped when they saw the shadows appear. He then looked over and asked, "That's what we're calling them, right? Shadows? And not "Creepy Slimy Crap Things"?"

"That's what Ember's calling them so we roll with it." Alex shrugged. "But they're going after Ember!"

Both Alex and Jax ran forward and were able to stop the Hablerie in their tracks when they each hit one, starting up a battle.

 _[Background Music: Persona 4 OST: Reach Out To The Truth]_

Right at the moment the Hablerie turned around to see what attacked them, Jax ran up to punch one of them… only for that one to move out of the way and caused Jax to fall on his stomach.

"Damn it!" He swore. He then groaned when another one hit him with a Bufu ice attack.

"Hang on, Jax!" Alex shouted, running up to slash on one, but just like Jax it moved out of the way causing Alex to fall. It then ran into him sending him back. "Ah!"

"Alex… we may need to bring out our Personas for this." Jax said.

"While they are slightly stronger than the ones from last night… Yeah, let's go ahead and bring them out!" Alex said, standing up and putting his hand on his mask. "Persona!" Almost instantly Odysseus appeared above him and used a Cleave to take out two of the Hablerie.

"Oh yeah! Persona!" Jax put his hand on his mask and Balor appeared above him. "Hit a Sonic Punch on both of those round bastards!" Balor nodded and used his now flaming spiked knuckles to hit a Sonic Punch on each, causing the last two to disappear.

 _[Background Music: Persona 3 OST: Tartarus 4th Floor]_

"Oh yeah that was really cool!" Jax smiled, looking up at Balor.

"No time to stop though, we have to get Ember!" Alex said continuing to run, noticing that thanks to that battle, Ember was way ahead of them.

"Oh! Right!" Jax followed behind, with Odysseus and Balor following behind their hosts.

* * *

"Come on… Come on…! Where are you?!" Ember asked still running. She looked like she was near panicking. "I remember this street too well, where is it?!"

Just as she asked that, she suddenly came to a screeching halt when she saw a house. It was a large house that was all white with some blue in around some places. There were bushes in front and even some flowers in the yard. Ember stood silent looking at the house, it was a place she remembered very fondly.

"...Mom, Dad… Whether it's one of you are both, I'm coming in!" She said to herself determined before running into the house, not questioning how it wasn't locked.

"YAH!" A flame of fire disintegrated another Lying Hablerie courtesy of Balor as the boys finally made it to where Ember was seconds later.

"I think I saw her go in here." Alex said.

"Think she knows this house?" Jax asked.

"Looks like it, since she just stormed into this area as soon as the door was opened." Alex said before running up the steps of the house with Jax following him.

Ember looked around the dark looking house, there were furniture and decorations inside of the one room and she silently stared at them.

"Em? You okay?" Jax asked as he and Alex got inside.

"...Where could they be? I hope they're okay!" Ember said before going through the kitchen in the house.

"Wait, who?" Alex asked.

"My parents! They could be in here!" Ember called out running up stairs.

"How in the hell can her parents be in here? It hasn't rained since Monday!" Jax called out.

"Maybe seeing this made her think they were, but this dream isn't for them..." Alex trailed off.

Jax thought as Alex trailed off, then it clicked, "...So that's why the door took a while to appear… We need to follow her up!" And with that both boys ran up the stairs.

Meanwhile in the room upstairs, Ember looked around the room with intrigue.

"My old bedroom..." She whispered. She looked at everything; the slightly dusty windows, the bed she had in there, a purple bean bag and a small TV on the floor, and a wooden desk with what looked like a journal on it. "My journal? ...I stopped writing on this before we moved." She opened up the journal and began reading the last entry in it. It read:

 _July 14th_

 _Well this is it, this is my last day in Tampa. I spent the entire day saying goodbye to the friends I've made living here all these years and I am going to miss it. Tomorrow we're leaving to a new place, a decent sized town called Silvercrest. While I do like the name, I really am not excited to go at all. Maybe it's because I'm so used to the city, but Mom and Dad said we're moving to a smaller town for some quiet. They didn't think about how I'd feel with this, they only did this because they want to! I live in this house too and I got friends here, why didn't I have a say? And when I did say something about this, Mom and I nearly had a fight! I am so glad I only three years left of school, because if I find nothing good in that town and I get the chance, I'll move back here after I graduate. But for now, I guess I'll say it…_

 _Goodbye Tampa, I'll miss you._

After reading that, Ember suddenly heard two voices close to her.

" _Mom, I don't want to move! Did you and Dad even think about how I'd feel?"_ The voice sounded like Ember's.

" _Ember you are still our daughter and your father and I need a quieter place to live."_ The other voice sounded like Chelsea and she sounded calm.

" _Why?! Tampa is just fine! What about the friends I met here? I've known them for years! I'm leaving them behind, Mom!"_

" _You can email them and write them whenever you can. And I know you'll make new friends in our new home. I know you're upset about this, but we need a change in our lives!"_

" _You should've asked me first! I already hate Silvercrest! I HATE it!"_

"...I really was angry with my family when I heard… And I still miss Tampa..." Ember said softly.

 _[Background Music: Persona 4 OST: Borderline Madness]_

" **You still miss Tampa, huh? You still hate Silvercrest?"** A familiar voice said that caused Ember to quickly turn around. When she turned around, she saw another version of herself with golden eyes and a dark purple haze. It was exactly like what happened with Jax, it was Ember's shadow.

The minute the shadow showed up, Alex and Jax arrived in the room with Odysseus and Balor floating behind them and stopped in their tracks.

"Is… is that…?" Alex asked.

"It's… just like what happened with me." Jax said.

"W-What…?" Ember asked.

" **You heard me! You told your mom you already hated Silvercrest and you didn't move there yet at the time! So tell me… do you still hate it?"** Shadow Ember asked and Ember was about to answer, but Shadow Ember stopped her, **"No wait… I'll answer that for you… Of course you still hate it!"**

"What are you talking about? No I don't!" Ember shouted. "I'm over it now!"

Shadow Ember laughed, **"Yeah right! Stop lying to yourself, you even told your new friend Alex when you first met him that Silvercrest is really boring.** **Two years later and you still dislike it! There are some good things in the town to do, and yet you still consider it boring! Or are you just saying that so you can see old friends again… old friends that are better than your current friends?"**

"I-I don't think of them like that! They are my friends!" Ember shouted.

" **They aren't your real friends, Ember, your Tampa friends are your real friends."** Shadow Ember said with a grin. **"The real reason you didn't want to move is because you didn't want to be alone again. You were always that shy, quiet girl in class people would pass by and it would make you lonely. The friends you met in Tampa you will always remember. And these "friends" you've met here, they're only temporary until you go back to Tampa and forget all about them!"**

"What are we going to do?" Jax asked Alex.

"We're going to protect Ember, that's what." Alex answered. "Get ready!"

"Shut up!" Ember yelled. "You don't know about me!"

"Ember, calm down!" Alex called out.

"No! Don't listen to this thing! It isn't me!" Ember shouted.

"Ember, don't say that! Remember this same thing happened with me?!" Jax shouted.

Shadow Ember chuckled, **"That's right, I'm just a little girl on the inside who doesn't want to be lonely and left alone. That's why I'm just using my "friends" in this stupid town to feel important. I am pathetic. Once I leave, I'll forget all about them..."**

"I do not use them!" Ember yelled.

" **Still denying me? Ember, I'd stop doing that if I were you… since I am you after all."** Shadow Ember said narrowing her eyes.

"Be quiet! You're..." Ember started to say.

"Ember no!" Both Alex and Jax shouted.

"...You're not me!" Ember yelled.

For a few seconds Shadow Ember stayed silent, but then she started cackling, **"That's right, I'm not you, I'm not a pathetic child anymore! I am something more!"** The haze then blew forward and knocked Ember down.

"Ember!" Alex shouted, reacting quickly as he dragged Ember away from the now swirling purple haze.

"Show time!" Jax said, getting in a fighting stance.

 _[Background Music: Persona 4 OST: I'll Face Myself -Battle-]_

The purple haze soon disappeared and now Shadow Ember was a large monster shadow. She had two faces that were pure white creepy faces with with black eyes; one face looked happy while the other looked sad and had long white hair. She wore black gloves with a long flowing dark purple dress that was open down her stomach and the end of the dress nearly reached the ground. In her hand she held a double spear ended staff.

" **I am a shadow… The true self."** Shadow Ember's now distorted voice spoke, putting her staff into the ground. **"Using people just to make you feel like you belong, and that is weak for anyone to do. And since you are weak, prepare to die!"** She swung the staff at the two Persona users.

"LOOK OUT!" Alex called out as he and Jax both jumped out of the way to avoid being hit. "Let's do this, Jax!"

"Right with you, Alex!" Jax said as a split screen showed their masked eyes.

"Odysseus!"

"Balor!"

"Attack!"

Odysseus and Balor charged at Shadow Ember and hit her with the sword and spiked knuckles. But while it caused her to lean back after the hits, it looked like it hardly did damage.

" **Didn't feel a thing."** Shadow Ember chuckled before she used her staff to send Jax to the side and but he was able to miss the move… but didn't notice the other side of the staff coming to him from behind.

"Jax look out!" Alex tried to warn him.

"What are you- AH!" Jax shouted as the staff hit him directly and sent him flying a foot.

"You okay?!" Alex asked.

"Yeah I'm good!" Jax held up his arm and stood back up.

"Let's dish out any attack with have on this girl!" Alex said. "Odysseus! Bufu!"

"Balor! Use Agi!" Jax ordered.

With the orders from their host, Odysseus and Balor released their respective ice and fire attacks at Shadow Ember. It seemed to do some decent damage with the combined elements.

" **Not bad..."** Shadow Ember said, before pointing her staff at both boys. **"...But is that the best you've got?"** She then shouted out an attack. **"Killer Wind!"** A huge gust of wind suddenly knocked Alex and Jax down, although both Odysseus and Balor helped shield the hit a bit by standing in front of them. But the shadow wasn't done there as the two could see a light underneath them and card-like things floating around them. **"Mahama!"**

Luckily before the move actually hit, the Personas pushed Alex and Jax and they took the hit. But at the same time, both Alex and Jax felt quite a bit of pain after that attack. Alex cringed loudly while Jax swore.

"What was that?!" Jax groaned.

" **Killer Wind!"** Shadow Ember shouted releasing another killer wind, this time hitting the boys.

"AH!" Alex groaned, trying to push himself up after the hit. Jax followed suit.

" **I also have a healing spell as well, so even if you do any reasonable damage on me, you can't beat me because I'll just heal myself up!"** Shadow Ember laughed.

"Are you freaking serious?!" Jax shouted. "She can heal herself? This bitch is strong!"

"But we have to keep going! We have to do this!" Alex said.

" **Ha! She doesn't even see you two as true friends, why bother helping her?"** Shadow Ember asked.

"Because to us she is our friend!" Alex shouted. "Cleave, Odysseus!"

Odysseus charged at Shadow Ember and swung hips sword at her. She was able to block the move, but Balor suddenly came in thanks to the distraction and hit a Sonic Punch on her.

Shadow Ember let out a pained moan, but chuckled when she moved her staff to her head and a green flash was seen around it. **"See? I told you I have healing spells!"**

"Damn it! And that did good damage too!" Jax muttered.

"We just need to keep hitting her and not give her a chance to heel." Alex said.

" **I don't think so..."** Shadow Ember said before putting her staff forward again. **"Mahama!"** And this time the boys got hit dead on as they both fell to the ground groaning in pain.

Ember who was a few feet away in safety, saw this and gasped, "Alex! Jax!"

" **You idiotic fools! You are risking your lives for a girl who really doesn't care for you! And now you will die by my hands!"** Shadow Ember shouted.

"We won't… Let you…!" Jax said trying to force himself up… Until what looked like a purple ribbon came out of Shadow Ember's staff and wrapped both Jax and Balor into it, making them unable to move. "Ah!"

"Jax!" Alex shouted, trying to push himself up. He then looked back and Ember and saw she was watching and looking like she was about to freak out. "Ember! You need to calm down!"

"How can I not?! You know how I really feel about living in this town!" Ember shouted. "I deserve this! I deserve this!"

"No you don't!" Alex shouted. "I know how you feel about not wanting to be alone and we don't fault you for that!"

"But I don't want to feel this way, especially around you guys!" Ember shouted. "I feel bad for feeling like this!"

"Ember, we all have parts of ourselves we want to keep secret! But you need to admit these secrets or set it free! ...Remember what happened with Jax here!" Alex said.

" **Are you done talking to that brat yet?!"** Shadow Ember shouted as Alex was suddenly flung to the other side of the room by her staff.

Ember gasped again seeing this, and while she still didn't want to admit it… he was right. She had to let it go if she wanted these guys to live as she did not want to see them get even more hurt. She slowly stood up and looked towards her shadow. "...I will not let Alex and Jax die in here!"

And just with those words, Shadow Ember began to feel her power get weakened. **"What?! What's happening to me?!"**

Alex saw this and smiled slightly. But it was at this time he had an idea. _"I have a second Persona now… I should give it a try."_ He put his hand on his mask and shouted, "Change!" Odysseus turned into an orb and went into the mask before the Chariot Arcana card floated in air. "Eligor!" And it was then Alex's second Persona Eligor appeared, the horse letting out a cry as Eligor himself held up his spear.

"Wh-wha…?! No way! He's got two Personas?!" Jax asked.

"Untrap Jax and Balor, would you?" Alex asked with Eligor running forward and using it's spear to cut off the ribbon wrapping around Jax and Balor and freeing them. "Good, now Arm Chopper!" Eligor then went right to Shadow Ember and hit her with the physical attack, which seemed to cause a good amount of damage.

" **Ahhhh!"** She shouted. She tried to use her healing spell again, but it didn't seem to work. **"Im-impossible! How is this happening?!"**

"Because I am not afraid of this anymore! I am letting it go, I won't let you take over!" Ember shouted.

" **No! You… You…!"** Shadow Ember raged. **"I will not… K-killer… Wind!"** She landed another Killer Wind, but Alex and Jax were able to dodge it.

"Sucker!" Jax shouted with a smirk. "Balor, hit her with a fiery Agi!" Balor did just that and hit her with an Agi attack right in her two faces.

"Good hit, Jax!" Alex commented.

"Take her down, boys!" Ember cheered.

"Will do, Em!" Alex nodded. "Eligor, take out her staff with another Arm Chopper!" With that order, Eligor swung it's spear and was able to knock out the staff from Shadow Ember's hand.

" **No! My staff!"** Shadow Ember shouted.

"Jax, I'll let you finish this off!" Alex called out.

"Gladly..." Jax winked. "Let's go, Balor!" He ran up to the weakening shadow and jumped. And with a split screen of Balor's eyes and Jax's eyes, Jax shouted out…

"…SKULL CRACKER!"

" **AHHHHHH!"** With a punch from Jax along with a Skull Cracker knuckled shot from Balor, the shadow evaporated into a purple smoke, being defeated.

 _[Background Music: Persona 4 OST: I'll Face Myself]_

"YEAH! We did it! Woo!" Jax jumped up and cheered, but leaned down, "Wow! ...I feel beat!"

"So do I, man." Alex panted as both he and Jax had their Personas go back into their masks.

"So… when did you suddenly get another Persona?" Jax asked.

Alex was about to answer when he saw Ember walking up to her shadow self, who was back in her Ember clone form. "...I'll explain later." He said walking over with Jax.

Ember looked at her shadow self and sighed, "Yes, I do still miss Tampa and I probably always will. I lived there nearly all my life and I met those friends there. And yes, I am afraid of being alone because I don't want to go through it again. I hate feeling lonely and I do want friends around." She looked over at Alex and Jax, "But after what these guys did for me here… they just may be true friends now. I can say it now, they really are my friends now. But you should know that, because I am you, and you are me."

Shadow Ember nodded with a smile before she turned into a bluish color and floated above her for a few seconds before it turned into a figure. It had on a long purple magic robe with some flower designs on it as well as a long purple cloth covering its head going slightly down its shoulders. Its head and face was white with white eyes, but it was covered with a purple visor and sightly hidden behind the cloth was long white hair. It also had white gloves which a hand was holding onto a magic staff that had what looked like a white rose on the bottom.

" _ **I am a Persona of the Lovers Arcana. I am a Goddess of the Spring Season, Brigid, and I shall fight by your side."**_ Ember's Persona said before it turned into an orb and next into a mask, which fell into Ember's hands. The mask was butterfly shaped and was mostly purple with white around the eyes and a white flower line going around the mask.

Ember gave a small smile as her mask disappeared in her hands before the strength in her legs gave out.

"Em!" Alex and Jax ran to her and helped her up.

"I'm okay, my legs are tired." Ember said with a chuckle. "Hey… Thanks for helping me, even though she was kind of right."

"We all have things like that, Ember, but you did the right thing." Alex said.

Ember smiled, "Yeah, you guys are truly my friends now."

"And now you have a Persona too! Another one for our team!" Jax cheered as the other two laughed.

"Now let's get home, we did enough saving for today." Alex chuckled as they began making their way back.

* * *

 _[Background Music: Persona 4 OST: Who's There?]_

They made it back to the entrance and once again before they left, they took a stop near the white light.

"Well it's official, no one else is here to get rescued, so I guess we can wait until the next rainy night to come back here." Alex said.

"I agree, the only people we had to save were Jax and me and that was because we came with you." Ember said.

"So are you going to join us on this next time we go in, Em?" Jax asked.

Ember giggled, "Of course I am, I have a Persona like you guys now, I should put it to use."

Jax grinned, "Oh yeah, this is going to be awesome! We are a rescue team!"

"I guess we can call ourselves the Dream World Rescue Team." Alex suggested, the other two nodded in agreement.

"I like that, that's what we're going to be called." Ember smiled.

"Yeah, it has a nice ring to it." Jax said. "So it's settled, next rainy night we'll come back in here and save whoever couldn't make it out!"

And at that moment… Alex once again heard the glass shattering sound as time stopped around him.

 _[Background Music: Persona 3 OST: The Power of the Heart]_

He saw a card in front of him and this time when it turned around it showed the card he was shown by Igor before, the Fool Arcana card, before he heard the voice:

" _ **Thou art I… And I am thou…**_

 _ **Thou hast established a new bond… It brings thee closer to the truth…**_

 _ **Thou shalt be blessed with a Persona of the Fool Arcana…"**_

Seconds after that, time resumed. Alex instantly figured out he got another Social Link.

 _[Background Music: Persona 4 OST: Who's There?]_

"Welp, time to go home so we can rest." Jax said removing his mask as Alex did the same.

"Yeah I'm tired." Ember yawned stretching her arms out.

"I'll see you guys at school tomorrow." Alex said before going into the light first followed by Jax and Ember.

* * *

And there we go with that chapter! Alex has two Social Links started up and Ember has a Persona now too! How did I do? Are my battles here good? I may need to work on them more.

Next chapter or two may be filler chapters, or maybe more than that will. I don't know yet but I'll see what happens from now. See ya!


	5. Socializing

Hey! Next chapter is up peoples! ...Although admittedly, this is mostly just a filler chapter. The action will continue on the next one, but at least something happens.

Also, there will be days in the story where nothing happens, but I will still put the date on and then go to the next one. Can't think of something for every day. XD

* * *

 **Chapter 5: Socializing**

 _Date: Thursday, August 17th_

 _[Background Music: Persona 3 OST: Want To Be Close]_

"Alex!" Alex turned around as he heard Jax and Ember run up to him as he made his way to the school grounds.

"Morning, guys!" Alex greeted. "You feeling okay, Ember?"

Ember nodded, "Yep, I'm feeling great actually. Can't wait until we go back to the Dream World. Speaking of, the weather says it's supposed to rain on Saturday and keep going through the night."

"Then Saturday night at midnight will be the day we go back in!" Jax said pumping a fist.

"Well… maybe we shouldn't go in Saturday." Ember suggested.

"How come? That is the day anyone can go into the Dream World if they go to sleep at midnight." Alex asked.

"We may not be able to save anyone then, since what we think is they stay in the Dream World for too long to the point they get trapped in there." Ember said.

"...You do have a point." Alex admitted.

"Yeah… If they weren't actually trapped they wouldn't actually need saving." Jax said.

"...Another thing..." Ember trailed off a bit before continuing. "...Thanks for helping me out there yesterday, guys. I am a bit embarrassed you had to hear my hidden feelings…"

"Hey, don't sweat it, Em." Jax said with a grin.

"Still, I feel bad I felt like that." Ember said before looking at Jax. "Didn't the same thing happen to you, Jax? What was it like?"

"Um… Uhhh..." Jax moved his eyes around, not looking like he wanted to say anything. He then looked at Alex. "Oh! I was there when Alex got his Persona and nothing like that happened with him."

"Yeah, I remember that, I guess it just happened." Alex chuckled scratching the back of his head.

"Well you are an open guy, you may not hide anything." Ember said. "Maybe that's why you became friends to us so fast." The trio laughed at Ember's compliment before she added, "So sometime after Saturday, if anyone is trapped in there we will go in and rescue them, and I am coming with you guys!"

"You are a part of the Dream World Rescue Team now, Ember, of course you're coming." Alex smiled.

The first bell of the morning rang, causing Jax to run in. "Sorry! I need to use the bathroom before homeroom!"

As Jax left, it was Alex and Ember standing there. Ember looked at Alex, looking a little nervous.

"Something wrong?" Alex asked.

"Just… again, thanks." Ember said. "Even after what I said in there, you saved me and got me out. And because of that, you really are a friend to me now. Heck, I am never thinking like that about my friends again."

"Glad to hear that, Ember." Alex nodded with a smile. And it was then, the glass shattering sound was heard and time stopped around him.

 _[Background Music: Persona 3 OST: The Power of the Heart]_

The card that appeared in front of him showed the back again before turning around. This one had a heart on the middle top and on each side of it there was a silhouette of a man and woman.

" _ **Thou art I… And I am thou…**_

 _ **Thou hast established a new bond… It brings thee closer to the truth…**_

 _ **Thou shalt be blessed with a Persona of the Lovers Arcana…"**_

As the card vanished and time resumed, Alex could feel himself smile more. A third Social Link created with Ember.

 _[Background Music: Persona 3 OST: Want To Be Close]_

"We should probably head inside, we don't want to be late." Ember said.

"We should. See you at lunch, Em!" Alex waved as he headed inside.

"You too!" Ember waved back as the two went into separate directions in the school.

* * *

School was finished for the day and Alex was on his way out of the building when he saw that Jayden Anoa'i kid walk past him as Jayden accidentally pumped him a little.

"Oh I'm sorry!" Jayden apologized; his voice sounded slightly deep.

"It's okay, you're good." Alex said.

Jayden gave him a bit of a surprised look before continuing on out. As he walked out though, he instantly heard female voices.

"Look! It's Jayden!"

"Where? Oh there he is!"

A group of girls ran to Jayden and stood around him. They stared at him with dreamy looks, but from the look on Jayden's face that Alex saw, the look was of somewhat annoyance.

"Surprised he doesn't look too happy with all those girls around him." Alex said to himself. "Most guys I see who have girls fawning over them walk with them and flirt back with them. Then again… most of those guys are jerkholes."

Jayden walked forward, but the girls continued to follow him. With a small sigh, Jayden looked at them and said, "Girls, I appreciate the love, but can you please let me go home? I got homework to do." And with that, Alex watched as Jayden moved away from the disappointed looking girls.

"Hey Anoa'i!" A male voice shouted from outside, causing Jayden to stop.

 _[Background Music: Persona 3 OST: An Unpleasant Premonition]_

Walking towards Jayden were two males and one female. All three looked somewhat the same, but at the same time different. They looked like they were related. One of them had short slicked back brown hair and blue eyes and wore a white dress shirt, blue suit jacket, black dress pants and dress shoes. The other male too had short brown hair and blue eyes but it was more messy. He wore a tan shirt with a light green jacket, gray jeans, and tan shoes. The female once again had blue eyes and long brown hair, and she wore a yellow long sleeve shirt with an orange vest, orange shirt, and white shoes.

"What are you doing here, Brandon?" Jayden asked, not sounding too scared.

"You know what I'm here for!' Brandon, the one with the dress shirt and suit jacket, shouted. "To tell you to tell your old man to just resign as mayor of Silvercrest!"

"You know I can't tell him that! Besides, he's just doing his job!" Jayden shouted.

"Don't give us that bullshit!" Brandon shouted. "He has absolutely no experience and only got elected by the people of this town because of how good Dwayne was! But luckily the people are wising up and seeing what a stupid mistake they did! Our father should've won that campaign instead of yours!"

"Please… can you just leave me alone, Brandon?" Jayden tried to walk past the three, but the other male moved in front of him.

"You know the answer to that; we won't leave you alone until your father either gets impeached or resigns so Robert Roode can be the real mayor of Silvercrest." Brandon said with a smirk. "Now, how much money do you have for us today?"

"...I didn't bring my wallet today, sorry." Jayden said.

"Uh huh… Braden, search his backpack." Brandon nodded at the other male, who grabbed Jayden's backpack from his back and dumped it all out, leaving a mess on the ground.

"Hey!" Jayden shouted as Braden grabbed what looked like a wallet.

"Didn't bring your wallet today, huh?" Braden laughed as he opened up the wallet and took out the money. "Only twenty bucks? You see this Brandon, Becca? Is your dad really that bad of a mayor to give you more money?"

"That's because you take it all from me every day!" Jayden shouted. He stood up to go for a punch at Brandon, but he stopped him.

"I wouldn't do that, Anoa'i. You do know if you hit me, you will be the one to get in trouble instead of us, right?" Brandon smirked, causing Jayden to frown and look downwards. "Glad you remembered. Let's head home, you two."

The three siblings made their way out of the schoolyard as Jayden grabbed his things and put them in his backpack.

As Alex watched this, he felt even worse for Jayden since the day the others told him about him. He just watched him get bullied by someone and didn't do anything. _"Stealing money? Bullying? Isn't that past high school stuff?"_ He thought.

"Poor Jayden..." One of the girls said as Jayden left the school with his head down.

"I know… Why would a handsome face like him get bullied like that?" Another girl asked.

"Oh will you all just get real?" Another female voice was heard, but it was one Alex recognized. Next to the girls was Rayna, who had a disapproving look. "You don't really care for Jayden for who he is, you just like him because he's hot to you! You like him just because of how hot he is!"

"You don't know about us, you skank!" One girl shouted at her.

"Who are you calling a skank, skank?!" Rayna shouted, her hand turning into a fist.

"Oh right, you're a virgin because your daddy is a cop… you will never get a man!" A girl shouted.

"Yeah, she's too goody to get a man!" Another girl said causing them all to laugh.

"Why you little-"

"Rayna!" Alex called out and waving to Rayna.

That instantly calmed down Rayna and she quickly ran to him before things got out of hand. "Sorry, it's just those girls drive me nuts!"

"Glad I called you here then." Alex said. "By the way, who were those three that were doing that with Jayden."

"Oh, those assholes?" Rayna sighed. "They're Brandon, Braden, and Becca; they are the Roode triplets. You can say they are the bullies of the school, but they are different from usual bullies as they are actually smart and plus… their family is RICH! But they've been bullying Jayden ever since his dad became mayor and all this crap happened with him; their dad Robert Roode was running against him and he lost in a close race, that just makes their bullying even worse."

"Ouch..." Alex sighed. "Has he told the school?"

"He has, but the Roodes threaten with money to keep their kids from getting into trouble." Rayna growled. "Damn them for being both smart and rich!"

Alex growled himself, "As if bullies weren't bad enough..."

"Alex! Rayna! Good to see you're still here!" Jax said walking out. "I think I'm going to head to the comic store today, you guys want to come?"

"I'd be interested, I think I'll go." Alex said. "What about you, Rayna?"

"Sorry, but Dad's going to be here to pick me up any second now." Rayna said. And just as she said that, Jon's cop car pulled up in front of the school and Jon held his hand out. "And there he is, gotta go! See you guys later!"

"Bye Rayna!" Both boys waved as the car drove off.

"Now to the comic store!" Jax smiled as the two walked off the schoolyard.

* * *

 _[Background Music: Persona 4 OST: Like A Dream Come True]_

Alex and Jax were walking around the comic book store, checking out various comics on the stands.

"I never thought I'd grow into being a huge fan of superheroes." Jax said reading one of the comics. He chuckled a little, "On my first day of middle school, I filled my backpack with comics and while class was going on I read them under my desk while pretending to pay attention. Boy did I get into trouble! My mom did not like getting a call from the teacher!" He put the comic on the stand and sighed, "These things I just thought were always so cool, I wondered how they would be like in real life."

"A life of a hero really fascinated you, huh?" Alex asked.

Jax nodded, "And maybe with my Persona, I can accomplish this. I'm a lazy dude, not going to lie, but this is something I've wanted to do since being a kid and this may be my chance. And I get to do it with you, my cool new friend!"

"I'm not that cool, Jax. I can be pretty dang stupid at times." Alex chuckled.

"But what you've done since being here… helping both me and Ember in the Dream World… now that's awesome!" Jax said.

" _He really does see me as this cool guy?"_ Alex thought before time froze around him once again. But it only lasted a second as the Chariot Arcana card appeared in front of him and a number 2 appeared on the bottom of it, signaling the Social Link went up a rank.

"I can by a comic for you, just tell me which one you want." Jax smiled as the two continued to look.

* * *

 _Date: Friday, August 18th_

* * *

 _Date: Saturday, August 19th_

 _[Background Music: Persona 3 OST: This Mysterious Feeling]_

"Okay, I better get back home with these groceries quick, looks like the rain will start soon." Ember said. She went to the grocery store to grab some things. As she said though, the sky was getting cloudy as it was going to rain later that night.

While she made her way down through town, she suddenly saw Detectives Sebei and Lopez in front of the coffee shop talking. She could hear them talking about something, so she decided to eavesdrop to see what they were talking about and hid behind the wall of the shop.

"Any news on Hastings' and O'Brian's autopsies yet?" Sebei asked.

"No, I don't think they even started on them yet." Lopez shook his head.

"Dammit, why does it always take them so long?" Sebei asked.

"What are you so worried about the autopsies for?" Lopez asked. "Hastings and O'Brian died from comas, is that enough?"

"It's just… that's the same way the three coma deaths from three months ago happened." Sebei said.

" _Three deaths three months ago?"_ Ember thought. She didn't hear about deaths like these three months ago, at least she didn't remember hearing about them.

"What do you me- Oh right! I just got into the force when those happened!" Lopez said, then thought about it. "Hmm… that is a good point, from what I heard they too fell asleep for a few days then died shortly after."

"That's what's so weird about it." Sebei said. "Good even wanted to put the deaths into investigation since it was strange that those three died the exact same way, but the chief told him no that it was just natural causes and there was no need for an investigation."

"But those recent two… Does seem strange it's happening again after a long gap." Lopez said.

"I agree." Sebei nodded. "But we'll see if there's anymore. If there is, maybe we will need to talk to the chief and see if something is up."

Sebei and Lopez walked off and Ember watched before she got out of hiding. "...I need to tell the guys this next time we meet up!" She said to herself as she made her way back home.

* * *

 _[Background Music: None]_

It was very late into the night as thunder boomed outside and lightning flashed and rain hit on the windows. Alex was asleep in his bed… or at least he was until he sat up with a groan and rubbed his eyes. He walked over to the window and pulled his curtain back to look outside.

"Yep, raining all right." Alex said. "Well we'll be going into the Dream World sometime, wonder if anyone will be in there this time."

Alex then walked out of his room to go take a quick bathroom trip. As he did his business and walked back into his room however, his clock flipped to midnight…

...And right as he walked back into his room, his computer which was completely off… suddenly turned on by itself.

 _[Background Music: Persona 4 OST: Who's There?]_

"Huh? I thought I turned that off." He asked seeing it turn on as soon as he walked in. The screen was completely white… that is until a black silhouette appeared on the white screen. It was difficult to make out, but the figure looked feminine and looked to be wearing a short skirt. That was all Alex could tell before it faded away and the computer seemed to turn back off.

"What… was that?" Alex asked himself. But when he looked at his clock and saw what time it was, something clicked in him.

He didn't have time to think on it though as his cell phone began to ring. He got it off his nightstand and answered. "Hello?"

" _Alex! It's Jax!"_ Jax answered on the other line. _"I know this may sound weird… but did your computer… all of a sudden turn on with a white screen?"_

"Yes it did. I went up to go to the bathroom and when I got back it just turned on." Alex said.

" _And you saw the figure on the screen?"_ Jax asked.

"I saw that too. And the fact this happened right at midnight, the same time that when people fall asleep at exactly that time can go into the Dream World." Alex remembered.

There was a long pause before Jax asked, _"...You think the person we saw on the computer screen… could be a clue of who could be in there right now?"_

"It's… worth a guess." Alex said. "We can meet up somewhere tomorrow and talk about this. Wonder if Ember saw the same thing."

" _How about we meet up at Burger King around lunch time?"_ Jax asked.

"Sounds good. I'll text her really quick and we'll see if we can." Alex said.

" _Okay, see you tomorrow then."_ Jax said before hanging up.

Before going back into bed, Alex texted Ember telling her to meet him and Jax at Burger King at lunch time. Once the text was sent, he crawled back into bed and closed his eyes. Although he could not stop thinking about the silhouette he saw. Who could that be and could that person be the next one stuck in the Dream World?

* * *

Yeah nothing too interesting, but it looks like the team will have something to talk about next chapter. Could it help them from saving people in the Dream World?


	6. Want To Be Myself

Hello! Been a bit, but another chapter is up, and more action happens! What could it be? Let's find out!

* * *

 **Chapter 6: Want To Be Myself**

 _Date: Sunday, August 20th_

 _[Background Music: Persona 3 OST: Afternoon Break]_

At exactly noon, Alex, Jax, and Ember met up at the town Burger King. It was very packed in the restaurant due to it being lunchtime, but the three were able to get a table outside by themselves. Once the food they ordered arrived at the table and they handed everything out, they began talking.

"So it happened to you guys too?" Ember asked. "Your computers turned on by themselves and showed that figure?"

"It happened, I called Alex right after it happened." Jax said.

"I had to get up to go to the bathroom, but I saw it when I walked back into my room." Alex said.

"I see..." Ember said taking a bite out of her chicken sandwich. "...Since the computers turned on right at midnight and on a rainy night no less, same conditions as when someone can go into the Dream World, I do think the computers turning on does involve the Dream World in some way."

"I knew it!" Jax said before stuffing a few fries in his mouth.

Alex took a huge bite of his Whopper and noisily chewed it before asking with his mouth full, "But how can it be involved? That's what we don't know."

"The figure we saw on the screen could maybe be a clue of who could be in there." Ember said. "But since it was difficult to figure out who it was… yeah I'm a little stuck on that one."

"So should we go in tonight and see if that is true?" Jax asked.

Ember took out her cell phone and looked at something, "From what I see… It's going to rain again tonight. So maybe we should stay out for just one more night and see if the computer thing happens again."

"And see if the screen changes again, right?" Alex asked, receiving a nod from Ember. "Then that's settled, team. Depending on what we see tonight if it happens again, we will head in for a rescue mission tomorrow!"

"About time! I feel up for some Dream World exploring again." Jax smiled.

"Just got to stay awake until midnight." Ember said.

"Oh Em, I got another question." Alex said.

"What is it?" Ember asked.

"...You going to eat your fries?" Alex asked with a grin, but was given a glare by Ember. "Hey, you didn't even touch them yet!"

"We were too busy discussing what we were going to do tonight." Ember shook her head as the three continued to eat their lunch.

* * *

 _[Background Music: None]_

Later that night, Alex stood in his room watching the rain pouring outside of his window. It was almost midnight and he was going to see if the computer thing was going to happen again. He closed his curtains and sat down at his computer and stared at the screen.

Once midnight hit, it happened, the computer turned on by itself. But what he saw on this night was something he was not expecting.

 _[Background Music: Persona 4 OST: Who's There?]_

Instead of a white screen with a black figure, the screen was white for a few seconds before fading to show a dim litted room with a black velvet couch. But that wasn't all as what seemed like a black haired woman in a black cocktail dress walked over to the couch and a chuckle was heard from her. She turned forward as her face was hidden from the top of the screen. That is until she sat down…

...To reveal that the girl was Rayna!

Alex's eyes widened seeing who this was. "R-Rayna…?!"

With a smile, Rayna sat back on the couch crossing her legs, "Hello to all of you watching at home! My name is Rayna Sullivan-Good and I am your guest for tonight! I am sitting here in my secret home having time to myself… don't tell anyone about this, only the most handsome men can know..." She let out a somewhat sultry chuckle. "Tonight I will tell you all about what I plan to do in my future, but for now I shall be heading off. I must get myself prepared for what is to come. Ta-ta!"

Rayna then stood up from the couch and walked away. Shortly after that the screen turned white again and turned off.

"I can't..." Alex couldn't even finish the sentence as his phone rang. Without looking at the number he answered it.

" _Alex! Did you see that?! Did you see who it was?!"_ Jax shouted on the phone. He sounded like he was close to panicking.

"I saw, Jax!" Alex answered. "It's all right! Calm down!"

" _I should've known it was Rayna! She did say she was going to go to sleep right at midnight next time it rained to prove us wrong!"_ Jax shouted.

"Calm down! Calm down!" Alex shouted. "Don't worry, if she is actually in there, if we do not see her at school tomorrow, we'll get her out as soon as we can."

" _I sure hope so… Shit! That freaked me out seeing her on there!"_ Jax said. _"Although I'll admit, she looked hot in that dress. But I never heard her talk like that before, even when she acted like a pervert I never heard that."_

"I don't know what it could be, but again if we don't see her tomorrow, then she is for sure inside the Dream World." Alex said.

" _And if she is we'll get her out before she gets killed in there."_ Jax said. _"We'll follow your lead, dude. We'll talk to Ember about this tomorrow at school as well."_

With both saying good night, Alex hung up and fell onto his bed to sleep.

* * *

 _Date: Monday, August 21th_

 _[Background Music: None]_

The school day went on, but the three of them did not say anything about last night until the final bell rang. Once school was done, they met up at Alex's locker to talk on what they were going to do.

"Did anyone see Rayna at all today?" Alex asked.

"She's in my Calculus class and I did not see her." Ember said.

"And she's with me in Geography and English Lit, I didn't see her either." Jax said. "Was she in homeroom?"

Alex shook his head, "Nope, not in homeroom, not in Chemistry, not even in lunch."

"Dammit…!" Jax groaned. "I was afraid of this!"

"Maybe just to be safe, let's check her house." Ember suggested.

"But what are we going to tell her parents why we're there? Jon's already suspicious enough of me as it is." Jax sighed.

"We'll tell them we didn't see her at school and we just want to see if she's okay." Alex said. "Now let's get going, we need to know if we're going in tonight.

"And what better way and get answers than from her parents?" Ember said as the three left the school together.

 _[Background Music: Persona 3 OST: Troubled]_

They arrived at Rayna's house after a few minutes. Jon's police car wasn't parked there, so it looked like he wasn't home. They went up to the door and knocked, with seconds later a woman with long blonde hair and dark eye liner and mascara answered the door.

"Oh hello Ember! Jax! What are you two doing here?" The woman asked before looking at Alex. "Is this the new friend Rayna keeps talking about?"

"Yes it is, Christa. This is Alex, and Alex, this is Rayna's mom Christa." Jax said.

"And as for what we're doing here, we didn't see Rayna at school today and we want to see if she's okay." Ember asked.

Christa took a breath before answering, "To be honest… I don't know."

"You don't know? Isn't she your daughter?" Alex asked.

"Well… She went to sleep Saturday night and… hasn't woken up." Christa said. "We tried waking her up Sunday morning and this morning and she wouldn't budge."

"Is she… still breathing?" Alex asked, all three of them looking concerned.

"Yes, she's still breathing, but that doesn't stop us from worrying." Christa sighed. "Especially with those coma deaths happening, we don't want Rayna to be next. If she's not up by tomorrow, we're taking her to the doctor to get this figured out."

"Good idea, Mrs. Good." Alex said. "Well, thanks for telling us. We'll leave you alone for now."

"You kids be good, okay?" Christa called out before closing the door in front of her.

Once the three stepped away from the door and out of earshot from the house, both Jax and Ember asked in unison, "Dream World tonight?"

Alex looked at the two and nodded, "Dream World tonight."

* * *

 _[Background Music: Persona 3 OST: Fearful Experience]_

During the night inside of the Silvercrest police station, Jon sat in his office smoking a cigarette. He sighed as he was looking at a family picture of him, Christa, and Rayna when she was younger. The look on his face was a look of worry.

"Jon, you okay?" Detective Lopez's voice was heard outside of the door, causing Jon to jump in his seat.

"Dammit, Colby! Don't scare me like that!" Jon shouted.

"Sorry, I just had to stop by." Lopez said as he was holding onto two files. "...Still feeling stressed?"

Jon sighed, "Yeah… Rayna still hasn't woken up."

"She still hasn't? Poor girl." Lopez said.

"I have a bad feeling about this, which is why if she's not awake by tomorrow Christa and I are taking her to the hospital to see what's going on." Jon said.

"Think it's the same thing Hastings and O'Brian had?" Lopez asked.

"Since she's been asleep since Saturday night… I think it may be." Jon growled. "She better not be next to go that way! She's my daughter, dammit!" He slammed his fist on the desk.

"Jon! Jon! Calm down… if it makes you feel better, the autopsy results for Hastings and O'Brian just came in." Lopez said handing Jon the files.

"It's about time they did." Jon continued to growl. He snatched the files from Lopez who left right after and opened them up to look at them. His face looked annoyed as he read them shaking his head. "Of course, nothing out of the ordinary in the-"

Jon's eyes widened when he found something in the writing. "...What the hell?" He ran to a filing cabinet in the office and took out three other files. He opened all five files and placed them on the desk before grabbing a highlighter and highlighting one thing in each one.

"The comas… the deaths after a few days… Those aren't the only things they have in common..."

* * *

 _[Background Music: Persona 3 OST: The Poem for Everyone's Souls]_

After Alex fell asleep, before finding himself in the Dream World, he found himself sitting in the Velvet Room. Igor as usual was grinning towards him as he appeared.

"Welcome back." Igor greeted. "Don't worry, this visit won't take long. We just noticed that since your last visit here, you've gotten two more Social Links. One is of the Fool Arcana and the other is of the Lovers Arcana. The Fool Arcana involves you coming into the Dream World with your friends while the Lovers Arcana was formed with Ember Farrelly. And with the new Social Link, you are given a new Rank 1 Persona."

"You won't be given a Fool Persona as Odysseus is already a Fool, but you shall be receiving one of the Lovers Arcana." Margaret opened her book and the Lovers Arcana card came out of it. After floating in the air for a few seconds, a yellow drop-like shape with a feminine smiling face appeared in front of Alex. "This is Saki Mitama, a Rank 1 Persona of the Lovers Arcana."

"Pleased to meet you, Saki Mitama." Alex nodded before his now third Persona faded into an orb and went into his chest.

"That concludes today's visit." Igor said. "Now then, go and rescue your friend in the Dream World. I wish you luck."

 _[Background Music: Persona 4 OST: Who's There?]_

Just as Alex walked out of the door of the Velvet Room, Ember and Jax walked into the entrance of the Dream World. All three had their weapons in hands ready to go.

"You guys ready to go and get Rayna out of here?" Alex asked.

"You bet your ass we are!" Jax said. "Let's get her!"

"Hope she hasn't found her shadow self yet, as we know they are around here." Ember said.

"Alright, let's get our gear on." Alex said. The three of them closed their eyes causing their Persona masks to float in front of them. They grabbed their masks and put them on their faces, transforming them into their battle gear.

"Whoa! Wasn't expecting to look like this!" Ember looked at herself surprised. Along with her purple and white butterfly shaped mask, Ember's battle attire was a purple skintight body suit with a short skirt on it, a white long sleevless vest that went past her waist, gray boots, and gray gloves that had a purple flower printed on them.

"You look super badass, Em!" Jax commented.

"I agree, seems the battle outfits keep looking better." Alex chuckled.

A slight blush appeared on Ember's face, "Th-thanks. ...Anyway, we should go now." She placed her naginata on her back. We got a friend to save."

Jax put his brass knuckles on his hands with a smirk, "We're coming, Rayna! Open the door, Alex!"

"On we go!" Alex said, holding his sword in hand as he opened the gold door.

Once the door opened, the trio found themselves looking into a hallway with candles lit on the walls. The walls were a dark red color and there was red carpet on the floor. But they also noticed a few feet away there was someone who looked like Rayna from the back as long black hair was the one visible thing.

"Hey! There she is! There's Rayna! I'm coming!" Jax shouted as he ran into the door and started running towards her.

"Jax wait!" Alex and Ember followed him out running after him.

But Jax continued to run not hearing the other two behind him. By the time he got towards Rayna, he didn't notice that she was wearing the same black cocktail dress she wore from the computer screen and there was purple haze moving around her.

"Rayna! We're… we're here to rescue you!" Jax said. "Also, what's with that dress?"

"Rayna, are you all right?" Alex asked. Rayna however kept standing there with her back turned. "...Rayna? Did you hear us?"

Rayna was suddenly heard chuckling before she turned around. And this was when the trio saw that this was not the real Rayna they were talking to. This Rayna had the purple haze around her as well as golden eyes.

"Wha…?!" Jax backed up seeing the golden eyes. "You… you're not Rayna!"

"Jax! I think that's her shadow!" Ember said.

" **My my, guests have arrived at my** **private place** **…** **Two handsome men at that..."** Shadow Rayna giggled as she pointed towards Alex. **"** **That one is my favorite though..."**

"What?!" Alex and Jax asked in unison, although they each asked it for different reasons.

Shadow Rayna walked up to Alex with her hips swaying in a seductive manner. She pressed herself up against his body and walked two fingers up his chest. **"Such an attractive man, it's a shame I haven't had one of these sooner in my life..."**

"Uhhhhhhh..." Alex sweatdropped, not knowing how to respond to this.

"Hey hey hey! I'm attractive too! What about me?!" Jax yelled, throwing his arms up in the air and running around the hall comically.

With Jax running around and Alex awkwardly standing there, Ember had her arms crossed with an annoyed look on her face. "Where's the real Rayna? Where is she?"

" **Where is Rayna?"** Shadow Rayna looked over at Ember and laughed. **"I'm Rayna, and Rayna is me. But if you want the other side of me, why don't we play a little game?"** She backed away from Alex slowly while tickling his chin. **"You want my so called "real me" so badly? Well then, come and find me!"** She then began running down the end of the hall.

 _[Background Music: Persona 4 OST: Castle]_

"Oh no you don't, shadow bitch!" Jax shouted. "Persona!" He put his hand to his mask and Balor appeared above him. "Shoot her with Agi!" With that order, Balor threw an Agi fireball at Shadow Rayna, who easily dodged it.

" **No no no..."** Shadow Rayna wagged her finger. **"No early shots, we're playing fair. Come find me, cuties!"** She then went out of sight going another direction in the hall.

Alex shook the earlier awkwardness off as he ran in front of his team. "Come on! We have to catch her!"

"Wherever she's going, the real Rayna has to be there as well!" Ember said following along.

"H-hey wait up!" Jax stumbled as he ran behind them with Balor floating along above him.

The trio ran to the end of the hall and went down the direction Shadow Rayna went. But by the time they made it there she was nowhere in sight, although they kept running forward hoping to catch up to her.

"Don't worry, Rayna! We're coming!" Jax called out as they ran. "We're co-" He was interrupted as they heard the screeching noises of the shadows around them.

"Shadows!" Ember said. As she said that, six cupid-like shadows appeared in front of them. They were dark with dark pink colored masks and held small bows and arrows. These were known as the Monopolizing Cupids.

"Cupid things!" Jax shouted as one of them hit him with an arrow. "Ah!"

"Persona!" Alex touched his mask and Odysseus appeared and attacked two of them with a Bufu ice attack.

Ember ran forward and took one of the Cupids down with her naginata. "Got one!'

"Take the last two down, Balor!" Jax ordered as Balor charged forward, his spiked knuckles colliding with the last two Cupids. "Yeah!"

"We gotta keep going!" Alex said as the three continued on through the halls. They were able to take out one or two shadows at a time as they were running, but after the third turn, they came to a halt when a large horde of Cowardly Mayas and Lying Hablerie was blocking them from continuing. "Shit! There's too many of them for us to take down at once!"

Ember thought about it for a second before putting her hand on her mask. "Persona!" With that call, her Persona Brigid appeared above her, moving her staff around in a circle. "Use Mahama!" Brigid on the command pointed her staff at the horde of shadows as light surrounded them, and in a flash they all disappeared.

"...That was easy." Alex said. "Now we can continue."

"How'd you do that?" Jax asked as they continued to run.

"Persona attack." Ember said simply.

They kept running through the halls taking out various shadows they passed. They soon made it to a large room and instantly heard Rayna's voice over themselves

" **Congratulations, you made it this far!"** Shadow Rayna's voice chuckled. **"You're getting close… just a little more."**

"We are not playing any games, just tell us where Rayna is!" Alex shouted. But he saw something run towards them. It was a dark creature with a purple mask holding a lance on an armored horse and the figure was armored as well. "Guys look out!" He warned as the creature charged at them and almost hit them. Luckily they moved out of the way before they got hit.

" **If you can beat my brave Avenger Knight, then you can pass on through and my room is not far from here. If you don't, then too bad! Go get them, Avenger Knight! Don't hurt the one in red too much though, bring him back once you kill the other two."** Shadow Rayna was heard.

"Why are you going to spare Alex?! Take me instead!" Jax shouted before ducking underneath the Avenger Knight with a squeak.

"Let's take this guy down!" Alex shouted.

 _[Background Music: Persona 3 OST: Master of Shadow]_

"I'll go first! YAH!" Jax shouted as he ran up to the Avenger Knight from behind, but got thrown down by the Knight's lance. "Ow! That hurt!"

"Hang in there." Ember said. "Brigid, Dia!" Brigid pointed her staff at Jax and a green glow appeared around him.

"Huh? What was that? And why don't I hurt now?" Jax asked.

"I used Dia, it's a healing spell, a beginning one of course." Ember said.

"Oh… thanks!" Jax said.

"No time for thanks, we have to fight!" Alex said before sending Odysseus back to his mask. "Come on out Eligor and attack with an Arm Chopper!" Eligor appeared with the horse letting out a cry before it ran towards the Knight and hit the physical attack. Before it hit however, the Knight moved out of the way avoiding the hit. The Knight then ran over and attacked Eligor with the lance, causing Alex to feel the pain. "Ugh!"

"Need healing, Alex?" Ember asked.

"No no, I'm good." Alex waved his hand.

"Then I shall give a shot." Ember said. "Hama!" A light lit underneath the Knight and looked like it hit it, but it didn't look like it took any damage. "What? It looked like it didn't do anything- Ah!" That's when Brigid was hit in the midsection by the Knight's horse's head causing Ember to hold hers.

"I got it, Em! Sonic Punch, Balor!" Jax ordered as Balor was able to hit a punch on the Knight, but it didn't look like it did a lot. "...This is not easy!"

"It's a stronger shadow, we'll need more than that." Alex then ordered towards Eligor. "Agi!" Eligor released an Agi attack at the Knight and it connected. "Yes!"

"That looked like it did good damage! Let Balor and I try!" Jax smiled as Balor too hit an Agi attack and it connected. "We're taking it down!"

"Seems this Avenger Knight is weak to the fire attacks. Brigid, attack it with your staff!" Ember ordered. Brigid swung her staff at the Knight… but the Knight moved out of the way! It then began running towards Ember.

"Agi!" Both Alex and Jax shouted as Eligor and Balor hit Agi on the Knight stopping it in its tracks.

It was down, but Ember wanted to try one more thing. "Hama!" She shouted as the light appeared under the Knight again. "It's down! Finish it off!"

With those words from Ember and with the comic-like close-up of their faces (calling this the All-Out Attack screen), the three rushed in and attacked the Knight forming a dust cloud. This time after the attack, the Avenger Knight stayed down, signaling it was defeated.

 _[Background Music: Persona 4 OST: Castle]_

"We did it!" Jax shouted as they saw a door in front of them open.

"We're getting closer to Rayna! We can make it!" Alex said, leading his friends forward.

They went through the door and two more halls before going up a large flight of steps. When they reached the top, they were met with a large door with bars on them, similar to a prison cell. They could see inside the room and they could see the room was lit up with candles and the black velvet couch from the computer screen was in there as well. Shadow Rayna was sitting in the couch while the real Rayna was on the floor on her knees.

"There's Rayna!" Ember whispered.

"What are we waiting for?! Let's get in there!" Jax said.

"We can do this..." Alex took a deep breath before opening the door and they ran in.

 _[Background Music: Persona 4 OST:_ _Borderline of Madness]_

"Rayna!" Jax shouted.

"G-guys…?" Rayna turned her head to look at them.

" **Ah… so you got past my security, good for you."** Shadow Rayna giggled, now holding a glass of red wine in her hand. She sat on the couch with her legs laying on it as well. **"I knew you boys were handsome, but I got proof you're strong as well. Mmm mmm… Maybe this is my chance to be with one of you..."** She looked over at Alex once again and gave him a come hither finger. **"Come here, big boy… Daddy's not around to stop us, let us have some fun..."**

"What are you talking about?" Alex asked, albeit his face was slightly red from seeing this. Then again, so was Jax's.

"Stop it!" Rayna shouted.

" **Aww! Something wrong? I thought this is what you wanted! No police Daddy around to tell you what to do!"** Shadow Rayna said getting up from the couch.

"Shut… Shut up…!" Rayna shouted.

Shadow Rayna chuckled, **"You want me to shut up? I'm just telling how it is. You know the other day when those girls in school called you a skank despite being with no guy ever? Well… they aren't far off… because that's what you REALLY want."**

"No! ...It's not!" Rayna shouted.

" **You know… Your dad's not exactly a saint."** Shadow Rayna said emptying out the glass. **"Before he became a police officer and even when he met your mom, they did many things he'd get in trouble with, those things I won't say because they're too much with everyone in here. But once he joined the police force, he changed, and with your birth and him becoming a dad… he became responsible!"**

"What's wrong with being responsible?" Ember asked.

" **Because he is a cop, he is very strict on me! There are days he won't let me hang out with friends, I have to be home by a certain time even on a non-school night, and he tells me I can't even date until I'm out of school!"** Shadow Rayna shouted. **"Most of those sluts in the school have had a dozen boyfriends already, and I can't have one?!"**

"...My dad's not that strict…!" Rayna shouted.

" **He tells me how to act and behave, what to say and do, what time to be home, who to hang out with, all that shit! There are many times I just want to tell people I don't like what I really think of them or I want to beat them down, but I know if I do just one bad thing or one thing he doesn't like, Dad will throw me behind bars!"** Shadow Rayna crushed the glass in her hand, causing her to bleed a little. **"Why couldn't he have gotten a job that didn't involve the law? He could've been a trashman or something! I am so sick of feeling like I'm trapped in my own home! Like I'm already in jail! It's like he's controlling me like a puppet!"** She then smirked and swayed her hips. **"But this… this is how I want to be! Free of chains, bars, and strings! I can be myself! Isn't this what you want… other me?"**

Rayna looked up in shock hearing her shadow say that. She slowly stood up and clenched her fists. "No…! That's not what I want! ...You're..."

"RAYNA! Don't say it!" Alex shouted.

"Please don't say those three words!" Jax shouted.

"Stop!" Ember shouted.

"...You're… No way that you're me!" Rayna yelled.

Hearing those words, Shadow Rayna began laughing out loud as the purple haze grew around her. **"Ohhhh… this feeling** **is** **so good…! I can finally be myself!"** The haze grew bigger before it surrounded her and blew Rayna back.

"AH!" Rayna shouted being sent back.

"Rayna!" The trio ran towards her to check on her.

 _[Background Music: Persona 4 OST:_ _I'll Face Myself -Battle-]_

Once the haze died down, Shadow Rayna was now a large black figure wearing a dark green dress that looked wrapped in chains. Her arms were free from the chains but were connected together with long handcuffs with one hand holding onto a whip while the other was holding onto strings connecting three black red faced creatures. She also had blank black eyes covered behind a green long-nosed mask together with a wide grin.

" **I am a shadow… The true self."** Shadow Rayna's distorted voice spoke. **"I can finally do what I want, and the first thing I'll do is take you all down!"**

"Not if we have anything to say about it!" Ember shouted.

" **Oh really? So you're going to stop me from doing what I want as well? Very well then..."** She turned over to Rayna and held up her whip. **"Gust Shot!"** That's when a stream of wind came out and began to move towards Rayna.

"Help!" Rayna screamed bracing herself for the attack. What she didn't notice was Alex running in front of her.

"Eligor! Change!" Alex put his hand on his mask and Eligor returned to it. "Saki Mitama!" His new Persona appeared in front of him just as the Gust Shot hit, causing Saki Mitama to take the hit and for Alex to feel the pain. "Ugh…!"

"I got you, Alex!" Ember sent Brigid over to his side and she casted Dia on him, helping some of the pain go away.

"Thanks..." Alex breathed. But he looked down and saw Saki Mitama on the ground fainted. "Saki Mitama!"

With the distraction of Saki Mitama down, another gust of wind blasted the team and Rayna back. Shadow Rayna laughed seeing them, **"You think you have the strength to take me down? I guess I'll just have to blow your minds!"**

"...Was that supposed to be a pun? If it was, that was terrible." Jax said, earning a glare from his friends. "What?"

Just then a group of metal bars appeared out around Rayna from the ground and got put together to form a cage, trapping Rayna inside. "What the hell?!" Rayna shouted, but before the team could try anything she was suddenly lifted into the air. "Ahhh!"

"RAYNA!" The trio shouted.

Shadow Rayna cackled as the string puppets on one hand disappeared and she held the cage Rayna was in with the strings. **"I've got you now… Let's see if your friends can save you."**

"Don't worry, Rayna! I'll save you!" Jax said with determination, running towards Shadow Rayna. "Punch her lighs out, Balor!" Both Balor and Jax got their fists ready for punches, but all Shadow Rayna did was smirk.

" **I don't think so."** She chuckled. She lifted up her whip, wrapped it around Balor which caused Jax to feel wrapped as well, and sent them flying across the room. **"Trying to be a knight in shining armor, huh? Didn't work."**

"Ember, you heal up Jax, I'll take care of this!" Alex said.

"You sure, Alex? I don't think you can handle her yourself!" Ember said.

"I probably won't be able to, but heal up Jax so you two can help!" Alex said as he sent out Odysseus. "Cleave!" Odysseus charged at Shadow Rayna with his sword, but was whipped with her whip. Alex winced in pain, but it wasn't a lot. "Bufu!" Odysseus threw out a Bufu which caused Shadow Rayna to shout.

" **Ahh! ...Oh you got me there, but you need to do more than that! Gust Shot!"** Another huge gust of wind blew out and it sent Alex back a few feet.

"Damn it..." He groaned.

Ember across the room healed Jax with a Dia from Brigid. "Jax is healed good enough! Get her, Brigid!" She called out as Brigid charged at Shadow Rayna… but was sent back with her whip causing Ember to hold her midsection.

"I can take this, Em! I will not go down this time!" Jax shouted as he ran forward, but he too was hit with the whip! "Ah!"

"Shit! Jax!" Rayna shouted.

" **I'm tired of being told what to do! Just let me do what I want! Leave me alone!"** Shadow Rayna shouted, another gust of wind blowing out. But this time, all three Personas stood in front of their hosts and protected them.

"We… We can't get closer! She just keeps blasting that wind and hitting us with that whip!" Ember said.

"We have to keep trying though, we need to help Rayna admit this to herself!" Alex said.

"I sure as hell am gonna keep trying, Rayna is my friend!" Jax pushed himself up, looking towards Rayna in the cage as the wind was going past them. Once he got up to his feet, he slowly made his way up to the shadow.

" **So other me, how does it feel to be literally caged?"** Shadow Rayna grinned at Rayna in the cage.

"I said you're not me! You never will be!" Rayna shouted before seeing Jax walk up. "Jax! You, Alex, and Ember get out of here!"

"Hell no! We are not leaving you here, Rayna!" Jax shouted. "Listen to me… I know it's hard, but you need to face your other self, which is the shadow that's holding you! I'll say this, I do remember you saying once or twice on how much you wanted to tell your dad to suck it!"

" **Exactly! But I can't do it! I'm too much of a goody girl and I hate it!"** Shadow Rayna let out another Gust Shot and nearly sent Jax back, but he forced himself to stay up.

"Rayna! ...You are one of the most badass friends I've had." Jax said. "You want to escape that cage you're in, do it! You can do it!"

"Jax… I can't..." Rayna said, some tears coming down her cheeks. "...I don't want my dad to see me as a failure… I don't want my mom too either… I don't want to let them down for doing what I want… I'm too much of a wimp… I can't stand up for myself…!"

"Bullshit!" Jax shouted. "You're tougher than this, you're just scared- Ah!" That's when Jax was pushed back with another wind gust.

"Rayna! We've had thoughts we're not proud of either, and we're ashamed of them! But it doesn't matter!" Ember shouted. "In order to help us stop this, you need to admit that you feel this way!"

"I may have not known you for a long time, but if you want to get out, let this feeling go!" Alex shouted. "You can do it! We're your friends! We understand!"

" **Stop it!"** Shadow Rayna screamed as she raised her whip and sent all three Persona users flying back. **"I said stop! Stop telling me what to do!"**

Rayna looked down, thinking on what the three said. After a while, her face turned into a determined look. "They're right… what was I thinking for keeping this inside…? Yes, I do feel trapped in being told what to do… But I'm doing it for both mine and my parents' sakes..." She grabbed on the bars of the cage, and right then Shadow Rayna started to weaken.

" **Ahh! What…?!"** Shadow Rayna shouted.

"I'm not trapping myself anymore… I am admitting what I feel! I do feel trapped, but I know soon… I can get out…!" Rayna pushed the bars more, which caused them to break and she fell out of the cage. "Oh crap…!" Before she fell to the ground, Brigid floated to her, caught her, and set her on the ground.

" **NOOO!"** Shadow Rayna screamed as she grew weaker.

"She's growing weaker!" Ember shouted.

"You know what that means?" Jax asked.

"Yeah! Let's do it!" Alex said. "Odysseus, hit her with Bufu!" Odysseus nodded before floating close to Shadow Rayna and hitting her with Bufu after Bufu.

" **Ah! Get away from me!"** She screamed.

"Sonic Punch her from behind, Balor!" Jax called out with Balor moving behind her and punching her right in the middle of her back and sending her straight towards Ember and Brigid.

"Finish her off, Em!" Alex said.

"My pleasure!" Ember said as a split screen of her and Brigid's eyes appeared. "Take her down, Brigid!"

With that order, Brigid flew up to the vulnerable Shadow Rayna with a huge swing of her staff, going through the shadow.

" **AHHHH!"** Shadow Rayna screamed before disappearing in the haze. Shadow Rayna was defeated.

 **[Level Ups:**

 **Odysseus learned Mabufu**

 **Eligor learned Maragi**

 **Balor learned Maragi**

 **Brigid learned Skewer]**

 _[Background Music: Persona 4 OST:_ _I'll Face Myself_ _]_

"Thank god that's over..." Alex breathed once the battle was over. He saw Rayna sitting on the floor. "You okay?"

"Yeah, I'm fine..." Rayna said.

"I did think something was up involving you and your family, but we never thought about what it could've been." Ember said.

Rayna stood up and saw her shadow self back in her clone form looking at her. "...I hated feeling like that, especially towards my dad since I do love him… That's why I have this side of me… It's what I really want to do with my life, but I can't. I want to live like many teenage girls do, but with my fear I'm scared to. I can't deny it… You are a part of me that I kept inside. I am really you."

Shadow Rayna nodded with a blank expression before glowing blue and floated above her before turning into a figure. The figure retained the long nosed green mask, but the eyes were white. Its body was green with a short skirt with black on the bottom and black heeled boots with green on the top and white stockings. It also had long black hair and its hands looked like black gloves with feathers looking like they were attached to them. There were also black feathery wings on its back.

 ** _"_ _I am a Persona of the Star Arcana. I am a Goddess of Strife and Discord, Eris, and I shall fight by your side."_ **Rayna's Persona said before it turned into an orb and then a mask. The mask was all green and the top sides looked like wings that had black tips.

Rayna looked at the mask as it fell into her hands before disappearing. After staring at it for a while, she finally turned to the trio and asked, "Okay, what the hell is going on here?"

"We'll… explain to you once we get out of here." Ember said with a chuckle.

"Or maybe once we're back in the real world, energy must be out of her right now." Alex said.

"No I'm good, I feel fi- Whoa!" Rayna nearly stumbled onto the ground before Alex caught her.

"I gotcha. Come on, let's get you back." He said.

"At least Jon will be happy that Rayna will wake up tomorrow." Jax said.

The trio made their way out of the dream and to the entrance with Rayna. Before they stepped out however, time froze around him as the Fool Arcana card appeared in front of him with a 2 appearing underneath it. The Fool Social Link went up a rank.

* * *

The fourth Persona user has been introduced, now we'll see if she joins the three in their rescue missions.

I'll say this now, while Rayna's was fun... the next eventual user is the one I'm the most excited for. You'll see why.


	7. Trying a New Thing

Another chapter ahoy! Although this one is a pretty short one and so will the next one probably. Last chapter someone got rescued from the Dream World, and now we'll get some development time. Hope you enjoy!

* * *

 **Chapter 7: Trying a New Thing**

 _Date: Tuesday, August 22nd_

 _[Background Music: Persona 4 OST: Reasoning]_

"Thank god today is over, classes were so boring today..." Jax yawned as he, Alex, and Ember stood outside of the school when the school day was over.

"That's because you didn't get enough sleep, you need to start going to bed earlier." Ember said.

"We were in the Dream World last night, remember?!" Jax asked.

"Anyway..." Alex interrupted to change the subject. "Any news on Rayna? I didn't see her at all today."

"I heard from her mom that she did wake up, but she's staying home for another day or two just to be safe." Jax said.

"Glad we got her out of there and prevented another coma death." Alex sighed in relief. "Once she returns, we'll explain everything to her."

The trio stayed silent for a few seconds before Ember asked Alex, "Hey Alex, how are you with sports?"

"Not very good actually, why?" Alex asked.

"Tryouts for both the school basketball and volleyball teams are tomorrow, just curious." Ember said.

"Thinking of trying out for volleyball this year, Em?" Jax asked.

"No..." Ember sighed. "You know how I am with studying."

"Oh yeah, because you are a NERD!" Jax laughed, earning an ear pull by Ember. "Ow ow ow!"

"Look who's talking, comic nerd." Ember deadpanned.

Alex thought about what Ember said about the team tryouts tomorrow. _"I am not that good of sports, but should I give it a try? Maybe it'll be enough for me to get on the team."_ He thought before saying out loud. "I think I'll try out for the basketball team tomorrow, just to see how I do."

"Hope you make it on the team." Ember said.

"Don't get your hopes up on that, I said I'm not very good." Alex chuckled.

* * *

 _[Background Music: Persona 4 OST: Like A Dream Come True]_

Alex and Ember decided to walk home from school together. As they were chatting about random things, they walked past a beautiful park in town with many flowers and trees around, clean green grass, and a pond in the middle of it. Ember stopped and looked at the park in admiration.

"The Roseberry Park… One of the few things I found beautiful in this town when we moved here..." Ember said.

"It is a nice looking park. Look at all the kids playing around the pond." Alex said pointing to kids running circles around the pond.

Ember giggled, "When we first arrived here two years ago, this was the first thing that I saw that caught my eye. Seeing people walk their dogs, kids running around having fun, couples in love sitting around on the green grass..."

"Didn't Tampa have beautiful parks?" Alex asked.

"It did, and I have no idea why, but I feel I enjoy this park more than I did at any of the Tampa ones." Ember answered. She then chuckled, "When I was in grade school, whenever I got a good grade on a test, Dad would always take me to a park in Tampa and get me an ice cream cone. It was a treat for doing a good job."

"There's an ice cream stand over there. You want a cone? I can pay for it." Alex suggested.

"Sure, I feel I deserve one." Ember smiled.

Once they got their cones, they sat down on a bench together in the park and ate.

"...Not as good as the cones from the ice cream palor, but still good." Alex laughed.

"But there's something about ice cream in a park that's special." Ember said. She looked towards Alex, "It seems things are getting more interesting in this town with you around, about time."

"It can't be all caused by me!" Alex joked.

"But I am glad I'm joining you and Jax on going into the Dream World when someone is in there. Feels like I'm actually doing something worthwhile." Ember said.

"You indeed are, Em." Alex smiled. It was then time froze around him for a second as the Lovers Arcana card appeared and on the bottom a 2 appeared. The Lovers Social Link went up a rank before time resumed.

The two eventually finished up their cones and made their way back home, both had homework to do once they got home.

* * *

 _Date: Wednesday, August 23rd_

 _[Background Music: Persona 3 OST: Joy]_

Classes ended for the day and instead of talking with Ember and Jax afterwards, Alex made his way to one of the two gyms in the school where the basketball tryouts were taking place. He brought shorts, a sleeveless shirt, and tennis shoes with him, he was ready to try. Once he got into the gym, many students were praticing and he saw a man with a buzzcut and wore a gray shirt and red shorts standing in the middle watching everyone.

"Is this where the basketball tryouts are?" Alex asked, even though he knew it was an obvious question.

"That it is, and you arrived on time too, I'm just about to start them." The man said, it seemed he was the team coach as he grabbed the whistle around his neck and blew it. "Okay! Everyone in a line!" He called out and everyone stood in a straight line. "Welcome to today's basketball team tryouts! Some of you already know who I am, but for newcomers, I am Coach Cena. Both the basketball and football teams are known as the Silvercrest Sabre-Tooth Tigers, and I hope we can have a good team again this year! Okay, let's get to it! Show me what you all got!"

45 minutes later and things… didn't exactly go as Alex hoped. He was now sitting on the bleachers as he watched the other students dribble the basketballs and throw them into the hoops. The coach told him he would need to do better and that he wasn't going to be on the team, which he knew he wasn't that good.

"Well, at least I tried..." Alex sighed. He felt a little better knowing he at least tried something new.

"HEADS UP!" A voice shouted towards Alex. When he went to look, he saw a basketball hurling towards his face!

"WHOA!" Alex shouted, quick thinking as he moved his head to the side and was able to avoid his face being smashed in by a ball.

"I got it!" A teen with short dark blonde hair and wore a black sleeveless shirt, blue shorts, and white tennis shoes grabbed the ball as it bounced back on the floor. "Heh, sorry about that. My friend threw the ball a little too hard." He said towards Alex.

"It's okay, at least you gave me a heads up." Alex said.

"Sorry I nearly smashed your face in, man." Another teen ran over. This one was a little taller than the blonde and he had dark brown hair with the top put up in a tiny mohawk and wore a white sleeveless shirt, gray shorts, and black tennis shoes.

"As I said to him, glad I got the heads up." Alex said.

"What are you doing here on the benches?" The brown haired one asked. "The tryouts aren't done yet."

Alex sighed, "The coach said I'm not good enough to be on the team. I kinda knew that, I'm not good at sports, but I wanted to try it."

"I saw you out there and I didn't think you were that bad." The blonde said. "Cena does like having the best on the team though, he is very competitive. We can pull some strings to get you on the team, we're two off the school's best players."

"No, you don't need to do that." Alex shook his head. "I don't want to keep the team down if I'm not as good as he wants."

"Well if you ever want to try again, just talk to us." The blonde said. "Oh by the way, I'm Damien Richards and this is my buddy Edgar Edwards."

Alex snickered a bit pointing to the friend, "...Edgar Edwards?"

"Go ahead and laugh, my dad's name is Eddie Edwards and apparently that passed to me as well." Edgar rolled his eyes. "I prefer to be called Ed."

Damien leaned over and whispered, "He gets angry when someone laughs at his name, just to let you know."

"Oh, I'm sorry, I didn't think people made fun of you for it." Alex said.

"Sadly they do." Ed sighed. "But I'm trying to not let that get to me."

"Can't let people get you down." Alex said. "I'm Alex by the way."

"Nice to meet you, Alex." Damien smiled. "Wait… I think you're in my Calculus class. I was the one on the first day that told Salvador that maybe he should stop teaching."

"That was you? Boy he really got angry!" Alex laughed before stopping. "But we had a lot of homework from him because of that."

"That's because Salvador is an asshole..." Ed said. "You seem like a cool dude, Alex. You may not be on the team, but maybe we can still hang out sometime."

"That would be awesome!" Alex smiled. "I'm up for whenever you guys want to do something."

"We'll ask you whenever we can." Damien smiled.

It was then the glass shattering sound was heard and time stopped. Alex was not confused this time, he knew what was going on.

 _[Background Music: Persona 3 OST: The Power of the Heart]_

An Arcana card appeared in front of him and turned around to reveal the front of the card. It had two eyes, a flame in the middle, and two hands on the bottom. The voice then spoke in his head:

 _ **"** **Thou art I… And I am thou…**_

 _ **Thou hast established a new bond… It brings thee closer to the truth…**_

 _ **Thou shalt be blessed with a Persona of the Magician Arcana…"**_

The card however did not disappear yet. Instead he heard a familiar female voice.

" _Alexander, this is Margaret. I'm contacting you from the Velvet Room inside of your subconscious. I noticed you just created another Social Link, and from now on when you create a new Social Link you will be given a new Persona instantly so you don't need to keep coming to the Velvet Room. You have forged the Social Link of the Magician Arcana, and you shall receive… the Persona, Jack Frost."_

The card in front of him turned in a white creature with a blue elf-like hat and shoes. It had black eyes and a smiling mouth with two small fangs on the top; it actually looked pretty adorable in Alex's eyes. Jack Frost just smiled at Alex before he turned into an orb and went inside of him. After that, time resumed.

 _[Background Music: Persona 3 OST: Joy]_

"Richards! Edwards! Don't waste time now!" Coach Cena called out once time resumed.

"Nice meeting you, Alex!" Damien said.

"Same!" Ed said

"You too, good luck out there!" Alex said as Damien and Ed waved at Alex and went back to the tryouts.

* * *

 _[Background Music: Persona 3 OST: Iwatodai Station]_

"Mom! Dad! I'm home!" Alex walked into his house once the tryouts were over.

"About time it got done! How'd it go?" Frankie asked, watching the news on TV.

Alex let out a small sigh, "I wasn't too good, I didn't make it on the team."

"Oh that's too bad." Sarah said putting potatoes on the counter. "I am glad you tried out something new though."

"Yeah, I am feeling a bit proud of myself." Alex smiled. "Heck, I actually met a few friends while there."

"Something good came out of it then." Frankie said. "You are a good kid, Alex… Well most of the time."

"Dad!" Alex whined.

"You know your father is joking." Sarah laughed. She took hamburger patties out of the freezer. "I'm making cheeseburgers and fries for dinner tonight, how's that sound?"

"Sounds delicious, Mom!" Alex grinned. "You go ahead and make that, I'm going to either play some video games or study."

"Hope you go with the study option!" Frarnkie called out as Alex made his way to his room.

He did study a little and after he was done he played some video games until his eyes were tired. After that was finished, he checked on his phone for the weather, noticing it wasn't going to rain for the rest of the week.

"Guess we'll see next week." Alex thought, looking out his window before Sarah called for dinner.

* * *

Yep, told you it was a short chapter, but Alex ranked up a Social Link and created another one. Also speaking of Social Links, would you readers prefer that whenever either a new Social Link gets formed or ranks up, I put up a list of the current Social Links at the end of the chapter and their ranks? Just in case it may be confusing to keep up with.

Anyway, next chapter might be another short one!


	8. In Comes The Hermit

Heya! Another chapter and it's another possible filler one. But stuff does happen, so time to read on and see what happens!

* * *

 **Chapter 8: In Comes the Hermit**

 _Date: Thursday, August 24th_

 _[Background Music: Persona 3 OST: Afternoon Break]_

Alex got his lunch tray and looked around the cafeteria during lunch. Normally he'd sit with Ember, Jax, and the others, but today he wanted to try and get a level up on his newest Social Link. So as a change, he sat with Damien and Ed.

"Mind if I sit here?" Alex asked walking to their table.

"Sure dude! Go ahead!" Ed smiled, moving over so Alex could sit.

"Thanks." Alex sat down and instantly took a bite of his pizza slice. "The pizza here is really good! Better than at my old school's."

"It didn't used to taste this good." Damien said. "From sophmore year to the middle of last year, pizza actually sucked."

"Thank god it doesn't anymore." Ed said as the three laughed.

"I always did like pizza so having school pizza that actually tastes good is a wish come true." Alex smiled, still gobbling down on his slice. As he continued eating, he saw Damien pull out a piece of paper and began writing something. "What you writing, Damien?"

"Huh? Oh… nothing, just something for class." Damien said.

"Something for class? Let me see!" Ed grabbed the paper from Damien.

"Ed!" Damien shouted, flailing his arms trying to get the paper from Ed.

"No let me look!" Ed smiled looking at the paper. He chuckled slightly, "Is something for class… a love letter to your girl?"

Damien's face turned a shade of red, "It's not a love letter! It's… just something I'm writing down so I know what I can say to her..."

"Ohhh, sounds like Damien likes a girl..." Alex said with a teasing tone.

"He does! Tell Alex who she is!" Ed said, elbowing Damien with a grin.

Damien sighed, "Her name is Carly Bennett. I've had a crush on her since she moved here when we were freshmen. I always liked her, but I was always too chicken to ask her out." He then took a deep breath. "But when this school year started, I told myself this was going to be my chance. This is my last year in high school and I may not see her afterwards, so this is it! I'm going to ask her out before this year is over! ...I just need the courage."

"I wish you luck in getting her, man." Alex said.

"Thanks." Damien smiled. "I really hope I can do it."

"Speaking of girls, find any you think are cute yet, Alex?" Ed asked.

Alex shook his head, "No, not really focused on finding a girl."

"Really?" Ed asked. "I've seen you sitting at a table with Ember Farrelly and Kaylen Rotunda, two of the smartest senior girls in school! They're girls most of the guys in school want to be with!"

"They're just my friends and will probably stay that way, not interested in a relationship right now." Alex said.

"I understand, not found the right person yet. Good on ya." Damien nodded.

After Damien said that, time froze around Alex and the Magician Arcana card appeared in front of him with a 2 appearing on the bottom before time resumed.

"So… what else you going to say to Carly?" Ed teased giving Damien the paper back.

"None of your business!" Damien said.

* * *

 _[Background Music: None]_

"Bell's going to ring in a second, remember that there's a quiz next Wednesday on the first two sections!"

The final school bell rang and the students stood up and began to make their way out of the door to the halls.

"Yes! Classes done for the day!" Alex smiled, grabbing his things and heading to the door. However right before Alex made his way out the door, the school intercom turned on and the principal's voice was heard overhead.

 _"Attention students! There has been an altercation between two students inside the school. All students please return to your previous classrooms and don't leave the school until the situation is handled!"_ She announced before the intercom turned off.

Students groaned before they sat back down in their seats, waiting to be told to leave.

"Two students in an altercation? Wonder what happened..." Alex heard a male student say to another one.

"Maybe a bad fight happened! Maybe someone brought a weapon and was about to use it!" The other student suspected.

"Don't say that! That scares me! I'm scared enough to go to school as it is!" A female student said.

About three minutes later, police sirens were heard approaching the school and every student in the room ran up to the door to see if they could see what happened. Alex ran up and looked and didn't see any fighting students, but he did see Jon and Detectives Sebei and Lopez walk into the school.

"They called the cops?! Maybe someone really did bring a weapon in if they had to call them!" The same male student said.

"Or they called them to calm down the situation." Another female student said.

Another two minutes passed when the intercom turned on again and the principal spoke.

 _"Attention all students! The altercation has been handled, however police officers are in the building. Please contact your parents or guardians immediately and leave the school building right away. A small batch of police officers will be roaming the halls, but do not disturb them! Leave the school immediately. I repeat, please contact your parents or guardians and leave the school building. Do not disturb the officers and head directly home."_

 _[Background Music: Persona 3 OST: An Unpleasant Premonition]_

"Whatever happened, it must've been bad..." Alex said out loud.

"You said it." A student next to him said. "I have to find out what it was!"

Alex grabbed his things and headed towards his locker. Once he got there, he could see Sebei and Lopez on opposite sides of the hall with the principal, Ms. Levesque, talking with Jon. Jayden was standing with Lopez while Brandon Roode was standing with Sebei with Brandon having a tissue on his nose that looked stained with red.

"...Is Brandon's nose bleeding?!" Alex asked.

"It is." Alex heard a voice behind him that caused him to jump. He turned around and saw Kaylen. "I was in their class when it happened."

"What happened and why did they need to call the police?" Ember walked over and asked.

"Apparently Brandon was badmouthing Jayden when the lecture ended and he wouldn't stop no matter how many times he told him to… so Jayden got up and punched Brandon in the face. Brandon saw his nose was bleeding and tackled Jayden and a huge fight broke out in the classroom." Kaylen explained softly.

"A fight?!" Ember's eyes widened. "I know Brandon bullied Jayden bad, but I never heard of fists flying with them!"

"Wait, this has happened before?" Alex asked.

"Brandon and Jayden always fought when in a room together, has been that way for three years. But it was always just yelling and shouting to where the teacher had to put them across the room. This is the first time we've heard punches being thrown and an all-out brawl happening." Kaylen said.

"Sounds like Jayden had enough of the bullying, huh?" Alex said.

"Seems like it." Ember said as Ms. Levesque pulled both boys towards her.

"We called both of your parents and they're on their way to pick you up." Ms. Levesque said. "Neither of you are going to jail, but starting tomorrow, both of you are going to be in in-school-suspension for a week."

"What?! Why both of us?!" Brandon shouted. "He punched me!"

"You wouldn't leave me alone!" Jayden shouted.

"ENOUGH!" Ms. Levesque yelled, causing both boys to recoil back. "Both of you were in that fight and both of you will face the consequences! In-school-suspension starting tomorrow and it will end next Friday."

Ms. Levesque went back to her office. Lopez turned around and saw the three standing there. "Go ahead and go home, you three. Your principal did say to leave the building."

"Oh! Sorry, we just wanted to see if they were okay." Alex said as the three walked out of school together.

* * *

Alex was bobbing his head to "Find The Real" by Alter Bridge playing on his headphones plugged into his phone. He decided to take the long way home and pass by the Roseberry Park. It really was a nice park, he still needed to thank Ember for bringing him there.

 _[Background Music: Persona 4 OST: SMILE]_

However he stopped walking when he noticed something. On one of the swings in the playground area, a girl that looked his age was sitting with her head down. She had dark brown hair to the middle of her neck, blue eyes, and wore a blue hoodie, blue jeans, and white sneakers.

Alex noticed that she was just sitting there looking down. _"She might need some company, I'll go talk to her."_ He walked over to the girl after removing his headphones. "Hello there."

The girl turned her head to see him. At first she looked surprised, but then she looked sad again, "Um… hello."

"Everything okay? Something wrong?" Alex asked.

The girl sighed, "Surprised someone actually noticed." She turned her head to look at Alex again.

"...I've never seen you at school, you look the same age as me." Alex said.

"I'm homeschooled, that's why." The girl said. "Sorry… it's just I've been homeschooled for years because kids made fun of me for what my parents do. They still do and I don't even go to school. I'm just viewed as a loner freak around here."

"Why do people treat you like that?" Alex asked.

"I'd… rather not say right now." The girl said. A slight smile appeared on her face. "I am glad someone was finally nice to me though."

"Hey, I just saw you sitting here and I thought you needed someone to talk to." Alex said with a smile. "My name's Alex."

"I'm Kayley Jones." The girl introduced herself. "I'm usually here after homeschooling, so if you want to talk more we can."

"You look like you need a friend, I will certainly come back." Alex nodded. That's when time stopped around him and the glass shattering sound was heard.

 _[Background Music: Persona 3 OST: The Power of the Heart]_

The Arcana card appearing in front of him had a red spirled background with a red eye underneath a lantern. The voice spoke:

 _ **"** **Thou art I… And I am thou…**_

 _ **Thou hast established a new bond… It brings thee closer to the truth…**_

 _ **Thou shalt be blessed with a Persona of the Hermit Arcana…"**_

The card then turned into Alex's next Persona. This Persona had what looked like a bronze colored helmet that covered all but one eye, what looked like a black apron covering it's body and black leather gloves, and held two melee weapons in its hands.

 _"You have formed another social bond."_ Margaret's voice was heard. _"You have established the Hermit Social Link, therefore as your Rank 1 Persona, you receive Ippon-Datara."_

After Margaret's words a nod from Ippon-Datara, the Persona turned to an orb and went inside Alex as time resumed.

 _[Background Music: Persona 4 OST: SMILE]_

Kayley looked at her phone for a second before putting it back into her hoodie pocket. "Sorry, I have to go. Almost time to get ready for dinner."

"You go ahead, I have to go too. I'll see you when I can, Kayley." Alex waved.

"You too, Alex. Hope we can talk again soon!" Kayley waved back before the two went their separate ways.

* * *

 _[Background Music: Persona 3 OST: This Mysterious Feeling]_

Later that night at the Good house, Jon was talking to his wife Christa about what's been happening recently. Christa was just shaking her head.

"Aren't you overdoing this a little, Jon?" Christa asked. "It could just be a coincidence."

"Coincidence? Christa, three months ago three people fell asleep and didn't wake up and died after a few days! Now it's happening again with two people dying the same way and Rayna wouldn't wake up for days!" Jon said.

"But Rayna woke up." Christa said.

"Yes, she did wake up, which is making me think these deaths are not what everyone says they are!" Jon said rubbing his head.

"You said you looked at the autopsies for all five of them, right? And you said there was nothing out of the ordinary?" Christa asked.

"That's what I thought, until Hastings' and O'Brian's autopsies came." Jon said. "I saw something in their autopies that made me look at the three from before, all five of them have something else in common besides staying asleep for days and dying from a supposed coma."

"...What else did they have in common?" Christa asked.

"Well..." Jon leaned over and whispered it to Christa. While the viewer didn't hear what he said, Rayna, who was listening in on the conversation, heard what he whispered and her eyes widened.

"...You serious?!" Christa asked, looking surprised.

"I'm serious… Strange thing is all five were healthy people too." Jon said.

 _"...The guys know about the Dream World… I may need to tell them about this..."_ Rayna thought before she ran back to her room.

* * *

Uh oh! A fight between Jayden and Brandon happened, but Alex got another Social Link added. Also, what did Rayna hear her dad say and why is she going to tell it to the Dream World Rescue Team? We will find out next chapter!

Also, like I asked last chapter, I'm gonna go ahead and put up the Social Links and the ranks at the end of a chapter whenever a new Social Link has been added or a rank has gone up so both me and the readers can keep track. Here is this chapter's:

 **Social Link Progress:**

 **Fool** (Dream World Rescue Team): Rank 2  
 **Chariot** (Jaxson Devitt): Rank 2  
 **Lovers** (Ember Farrelly): Rank 2  
 **Magician** (Damien Richards & Edgar Edwards): Rank 2  
 **Hermit** (Kayley Jones): Rank 1 

Does that work? Hope it can help both of us keep track. That is all for now. See ya!


	9. The Mystery of the Black Hearts

Heya readers! Another chapter of Persona: The Brave And The Bold here! Things get moving here, let's see what happens!

* * *

 **Chapter 9: The Mystery of the Black Hearts**

 _Date: Friday, August 25th_

 _[Background Music: Persona 3 OST: Want To Be Close]_

"Say it."

"No."

"Say it."

"No!"

"Say it!"

"No!"

"Say it say it say it!"

"Okay fine! You guys were right about the Dream World and I was wrong! You proved me wrong! There, happy?!" Alex heard Rayna and Jax behind him as he was walking down the hall to homeroom.

"Not quite… can I get a kiss?" Jax asked teasingly, and he instead got a slap in the face from Rayna. "Ow!"

"Idiot..." Rayna shook her head as she caught up to Alex.

"You feeling better, Rayna?" Alex asked.

"Heck yeah I feel better, still wish I didn't have to go to school today." Rayna laughed slightly. She then looked at Alex. "But I had to come as… well you guys have a lot of explaining to do!"

"We'll explain, we'll explain!" Alex held up his hands. "Not at lunch though since Kaylen and Owen don't know about this."

"Why don't we all meet up at Burger King after school and talk about it? We can tell Ember that at lunch." Jax suggested.

"Burger King it is. We'll tell you all about it after school." Alex said.

"Good, because I want to know what the hell is going on!" Rayna said as the bell rang. "Oh shit! We gotta get to homeroom, Alex!"

"Yeah, let's get going!" Alex ran with Rayna to homeroom while Jax ran to his.

* * *

 _[Background Music: Persona 4 OST: Reasoning]_

Once school was finished, Alex, Ember, Jax, and Rayna walked to Burger King and got the same table they did the last time they met up there. After they got their fries they ordered, the three explained to Rayna everything that happened since the Dream World was discovered.

"So… the thing in there really was my other self, and you fought it with… Personas?" Rayna asked as it was all explained.

Alex nodded, "Exactly, and with you accepting your other self, you got a Persona as well. That mask that fell into your hands is how you summon it."

"And if I go into the Dream World, I can use it?" Rayna asked. "Like you three did with yours?"

"Correct." Ember said. "And with our Personas, we can enter into the Dream World on any night and not just on rainy nights."

"What Jax and Alex said on that day… was true." Rayna said. "...I can't believe I laughed at that, turns out it is real. Hell, you guys saved my life that night."

"Apparently we may be the only ones that can." Alex said. "But now we should ask… Do you remember anything from being in the Dream World before we arrived there?"

"I remember everything that happened. I fell asleep Saturday night at ten o'clock, but when I woke up I was in my dream in the Dream World. I did not see a door anywhere to get out, so I walked further in trying to find a way out until I saw my shadow." Rayna explained.

The other three however looked at each other. There was something off about what Rayna said.

"...You said you woke up in your dream… You didn't wake up at the entrance?" Jax asked.

Rayna shook her head, "No, and there wasn't even a door to get out. I wasn't even in there long when you guys arrived."

"Sounds like Rayna stayed asleep during the days we weren't in there, or time moves fast in the Dream World." Alex thought. "But I have a feeling the same thing happened to O'Brian and possibly Hastings as well."

"Still confuses me that she woke up in her dream though while we always arrived at the entrance, and the fact she went to sleep at ten, but normal people can only go in the Dream World if they fall asleep at midnight on a rainy night." Ember sighed.

The four sighed and sat in silence for a few seconds. But the silence broke once Jax suddenly perked up.

"Um… guys? I think I just had a hunch." Jax said.

"You having a hunch? Wow, that's a surprise." Rayna laughed.

"Haha, very funny." Jax rolled his eyes jokingly. "But here's what I just thought. What if we're not the only Persona users? What if there's someone who has a Persona, but is using it for bad? What if this person went into the Dream World and pushed Rayna into her dream?"

"...You think that Rayna being in there… could've been attempted murder?!" Ember asked.

"It's just a hunch, but that's what appeared in my head." Jax said. "I mean think about it, how else could Rayna have been in there if she didn't fall asleep right at midnight?"

"It honestly would make sense… if Rayna didn't fall asleep at ten as you said." Alex said. "I mean… yeah I can't figure that one out."

"There's quite a few holes in that hunch." Ember said. "Although I don't doubt that we're not the only Persona users..."

"And if this shit is actually murder… Then there will be no way to prove it to the police as they won't believe the Dream World." Rayna said.

"That's why we'll investigate this whenever we go into the Dream World." Alex said.

"Let's not go head first though." Ember warned. "It's just something Jax said and we can't take it seriously right now. Let's take it slow and figure it out."

"Ember's right." Jax said. "What we do know is that Hastings and O'Brian both died from those comas, but Alex and I saw O'Brian get killed in the Dream World. So there's a big chance the same thing happened with Hastings."

It was then Ember slapped her hands on her forehead, "Holy crap how did I forget about this?!"

"What is it, Em? What did you forget about?" Alex asked in concern.

"On Saturday before it rained, I went out to get some groceries. On my way home I heard two of the detectives talking about Hastings and O'Brian's deaths and I heard them say that their deaths were just like ones from three months ago. Apparently in May I think, three people fell asleep and died from supposed comas as well."

"...Three deaths three months ago… the same type of death…?" Jax asked.

"...That relates to something I need to say too." Rayna said as the others looked at her. "Last night I overheard Dad talking to Mom about the two autopsies as he got them as I was in the Dream World, and he too talked about three deaths from May. But there was something else he said. He said all five people who died were completely healthy, but they all had something in common besides what we just said."

"And what is that…?" Alex asked.

Rayna was hesitant, but said it after a little silence, "He said all five of them… according to their autopsies… had black hearts."

Alex, Ember, and Jax looked confused at this revelation. "Black hearts? You mean… literal black hearts? You don't mean that as being bad people?" Jax asked.

"That's what I heard Dad say." Rayna nodded. "Even Mom couldn't believe it, but he seemed dead serious."

"Is that what happens when someone dies in the Dream World? Their heart turns black?" Ember wondered.

Alex thought about this; he remembered seeing O'Brian get killed by the shadow and how his body disappeared. And when his death was announced on the news there was no sign of him being stabbed like he was in the Dream World.

"...This may be a stupid idea, but we need to get a look at those autopies just to make sure." Alex said.

"We won't be able to see them though." Ember said. "They won't let kids look at classified information."

"...Not if we can sneak in." Rayna said. "Most of the documents are in my dad's office, he even said he looked at the five autopies and kept them on his desk."

"How can we sneak in? Will they let you in because you're Detective Good's daughter?" Alex asked.

A small smirk appeared on Rayna, "Dad left his police badge on the table this morning as he was in a hurry to leave. I can pick it up at the house and we can get in there easily if I tell the others I'm there to give the badge to him."

"Sounds decent, but we will have to hurry." Alex said.

"Don't worry, we will." Rayna smiled. "Come on, let's stop at my house to get the badge."

* * *

 _[Background Music: Persona 5 OST: Suspicion]_

After stopping at Rayna's house really quick, the group went to the police station and just like Rayna said, the officers there let them in as she said she wanted to give the badge to her dad. The officers however did say she should just drop it off in his office as Jon was currently on break.

"Do you know where his office is?" Alex asked.

"Of course, I've been in here before." Rayna said as they went down the station halls. "Aha! There's Dad's office." She went to one of the doors and opened it. She flipped on the light switch and there were five files laying on the desk. "And the files are still there."

"Let's take a look at them!" Jax said as the four went to the desk and each looked at the files.

The names on the files were the following; "Samantha Smithe", "Jace Smithe", "Cade Smithe", "Henry Hastings", and "Silas O'Brian". They opened up the files and began reading the autopies.

"From what I see, Samantha Smithe was the first one to die like that. It was on the first few days of May." Ember said.

"Let me look at that." Alex leaned over to look at Samantha's file. "It says on Jace's file that he and his brother Cade died not long after she did, and that Samantha was their mom."

"I actually remember Jace and Cade Smithe, they were a grade below us like Owen… It was announced in school that they passed away right before summer break." Ember said.

"Oh yeah! I remember them. They were big time jocks, they both played on the basketball team." Rayna said.

Alex flipped over the page and saw something. "Hang on… something is highlighted here."

"Same here!" Jax said holding O'Brian's file.

They put the five files down on the desk and saw that each one of them had something highlighted on them in the autopsies. The highlighted parts in each read along the lines of "The deceased has had no previous history of major health issues. However the cause of death, while presumed to be a coma after days of sleeping, the deceased's heart was completely black in color. The heart itself didn't look damaged, but the strange discoloration left us to think the cause of death was coma related heart failure."

"So the hearts were not damaged, but it was colored black." Alex thought out loud. "That is really weird.

"Kind of creepy if you ask me, dude." Jax said.

Ember grabbed a notebook on the desk, tore out a page and a pen, and began writing down other names that were in the files and addresses. "Samantha's parents, Mr. and Mrs. Kellser still live here in town. Maybe if we can talk to them they can tell us about what happened before their daughter's and grandsons' deaths."

"Good idea, Em." Rayna said. "We can also talk to Hastings' wife and O'Brian's fiancee and see if they know anything."

"One step at a time, Rayna." Ember said. "We'll raise suspicions if we ask too many people at once."

"Maybe if they say something happened before the deaths, it could give us clues as to see if these really were natural causes or if these were caused in the Dream World." Alex wondered.

"Well it's obvious all were done in the Dream World, they all were in perfect health and then they die like this." Jax said. "It's definitely the Dream World."

Before anymore could be said, the group heard the door handle open. Ember quickly folded up the paper she wrote on and put it in her jacket pocked before the door opened, revealing Jon and Detectives Sebei and Lopez talking.

"And then I was like- WHAT ARE YOU DOING IN HERE?!" Lopez shouted in mid-conversation with his fellow detectives."

The teens blinked with that shout, and Rayna just held up Jon's badge, "We just came in here to give Dad his badge… he left it at home this morning."

"Oh shit I knew I forgot something!" Jon walked in and grabbed the badge. "Thanks Rayna."

Lopez ran into the office and saw the autopsy files were open. "Did you look in these files?!"

"We did get a little curious and just… peeked." Alex said.

"These are classified documents with classified information!" Lopez shouted. "These are for police eyes only!"

"Colby! They did not look at the whole thing! Besides, my fault for leaving the files out." Jon said.

"What was with that just now?" Sebei asked.

Lopez sighed, "Sorry kids, had a bit of a weird day today." He rubbed his forehead.

"You only locked your keys in the cop car and left your coffee in there too." Sebei said.

"My coffee was cold by the time we got it unlocked, and you know how much I dislike cold coffee!" Lopez said.

 _[Background Music: Persona 4 OST: Reasoning]_

Jon chuckled and walked to his desk to put the files away, "You kids should probably leave. I should be home in two hours, Rayna."

"Gotcha, Dad." Rayna said.

"We better get going now. Sorry about being in here." Alex said.

"It's all good. You behave, okay?" Jon said sitting at his desk as Lopez and Sebei let them out.

"We will." They all replied as they walked out of the office and out of the station.

"So what's our plan?" Jax asked.

"We know Samantha Smithe was the first one to die like this, and I did write down her parents' address. How about tomorrow we go talk to them and see if we can get anything?" Ember suggested.

"Sounds good since it is Saturday." Alex said. "Hope we can get some answers with this."

"Then it's settled, I'm going to help you guys." Rayna said. "I want to figure this out too!"

"Another member to the Dream World Rescue Team! Alright!" Jax smiled throwing up his fists.

Ember and Jax began to walk away from the station. Alex and Rayna however stayed behind a little so Rayna could talk.

"The Dream World is real… Damn, and we're solving a mystery involving it..." Rayna said.

"You're helping us with it now, you know it may be some work." Alex said.

"I know, I want to help out." Rayna said. "With what you guys said, I didn't wake up in the entrance and instead in my dream already. If someone really did go in there and push me in..." She cracked her fingers, "Then I hope we find whoever it was!"

"Whoa whoa, don't think of that yet! We still need to see if that really happened." Alex held up his hands.

"With you guys going in there to help me and now I'm joining, I will damn sure see." Rayna grinned. She then looked at Alex, "Thank you for helping me in the Dream World by the way. I did look like a total wimp in there did I?"

"It happens, Rayna. But we got you out of there." Alex said.

"But if you weren't there… I probably would've ended up like those five, if that is what happened to them." Rayna lowered her head, then moved it back up. "The fact you did though makes you three badasses with powers."

"And you're one of them too." Alex smiled. "Just need to go into the Dream World with us next time and try them out."

Rayna chuckled, "I strangely cannot wait for that."

It was then time stopped around Alex and the glass shattering sound was heard.

 _[Background Music: Persona 3 OST: The Power of the Heart]_

An Arcana card appeared and it had a star with a face on it on top of a blue and purple background with other stars behind it. A new Social Link was created with Rayna, which also meant new Persona.

 _ **"Thou art I… And I am thou…**_

 _ **Thou hast established a new bond… It brings thee closer to the truth…**_

 _ **Thou shalt be blessed with a Persona of the Star Arcana…"**_

Margaret's voice was then heard, _"You have established another bond, Alexander, the bond of the Star Arcana. With this Social Link, your Rank 1 Persona will be… Fuu-Ki."_

The Arcana card turned into a mostly blue and white creature. It had a hole where the face would be except bottom fangs and it held a double ended sword weapon. Fuu-Ki just stood there before it turned into an orb and time resumed.

 _[Background Music: Persona 4 OST: Reasoning]_

"Come on, time for us to get home. We got to talk to old people tomorrow." Rayna said jokingly.

"It's to solve a mystery though." Alex laughed.

"I know I know." Rayna said as they caught up with Ember and Jax. As they went to catch up however, time stopped once again and the Fool Arcana card appeared, the Social Link now up to Rank 3.

* * *

 _Date: Saturday, August 26th_

 _[Background Music: Persona 5 OST: Sunset Bridge]_

In the afternoon, the team met up at the park and made their way to the home of Mr. and Mrs. Kellser. They said they were friends of Jace and Cade and wanted to ask about them. The Kellsers were around 70 years of age, but seemed like a nice couple. Mrs. Kellser even brought the team glasses of milk and a plate of chocolate chip cookies as they sat down on the couch.

"You were friends of Jace and Cade? They never mentioned any of you." Mr. Kellser said.

"They didn't? Wonder why." Jax said.

"They did tend to forget about things. They loved focusing on their sports." Mrs. Kellser chuckled. "You said you wanted to ask about them."

"We did." Alex said. "We remember hearing that they died before the school year ended last year."

"Alex, you didn't even move to- Mmph!" Jax was about to say but got two cookies from Rayna and Ember shoved into his mouth to keep him quiet.

"But nobody told us how they died. Think you can tell us what happened with them so we can get some closure?"

 _[Background Music: Persona 3 OST: Living With Determination]_

At those words, Mrs. Kellser started crying. She leaned her head against her husband's shoulder and he patted her back.

"Sam… Samantha…!" Mrs. Kellser sobbed.

"I'm sorry, Nora still hasn't gotten over both the twins' deaths as well as Samantha's." Mr. Kellser explained. "Samantha was the boys' mother, she died too before they did."

"I apologize, ma'am. You don't need to say anything if you don't want to." Ember apologized.

"No… no..." Mrs. Kellser grabbed a tissue and wiped her tears. "We never did talk about this to anyone, maybe it'll help me move on." She took a deep breath. "Our daughter, Sam, was a smart girl… But she was never good with men. She was married to Giles Smithe for twenty years, but after she caught him cheating on her with a younger woman she filed for divorce. The divorce was nasty, but when it finally got settled, we let her and the boys move in with us until she found another place. It didn't take long for her however to meet another man… it was then things got bad."

"Was this guy weird?" Rayna asked.

"We don't know much about him, we never saw him so we don't know what he looked like and we don't know his name." Mr. Kellser said. "All we know is he was a few years younger than Sam as she told us that. That was a red flag for us right there."

"She went out with him a few times and it seemed things went well… until she told us one night she told him she was once married and had kids." Mrs. Kellser said in a sad tone. "Apparently they had an argument about that. Then Sam went to see him a few nights later and she came home crying, saying that he said he was going to do something to her. She was panicking and wanted to call the police, but we told her we'd keep her safe and she'll be fine. ...That was the last night we saw her."

"What happened?" Alex asked.

Mrs. Kellser sighed, "...She went to sleep that night… And did not wake up. We went to check on her every day and she was still breathing, so we thought it was nothing serious. But then a few days later… we went to check on her and she… wasn't breathing…!" Mrs. Kellser began crying again.

"That's awful!" Ember said.

"That's not all." Mr. Kellser said trying to comfort his wife. "That same night we last saw her, hours after she went to sleep, Jace and Cade ran out of their rooms scared, saying they thought they saw Sam on their computer screen." Those words caused the four to look at each other.

Mrs. Kellser sobbed slightly. "But after she passed away, the same thing happened to them just a few days later..."

"Do you know what might have caused their deaths?" Alex asked.

"The doctors that did their autopsies and the police told us it looked like comas." Mr. Kellser said. "I have to agree with them, I don't know what else it could've been. They said there was nothing bad inside of them. ...So unfortunate though..."

"We are very sorry to hear about that..." Rayna said. "Sorry you had to suffer through this."

Mrs. Kellser wiped her tears again, a small smile appearing, "I actually do feel more free after finally telling someone this… You seem like good children, you listened and you wanted to know."

"We wanted to know what happened with our friends and now we do." Alex nodded.

"If you need anything else from us, come and visit any time." Mr. Kellser said.

"Thank you, Mr. and Mrs. Kellser." Ember said as the four stood up.

* * *

 _[Background Music: None]_

After the four said goodbye to the Kellsers, they made their way back to the park and talked about what they heard.

"The Kellsers actually gave us some pretty good information." Alex said. "They even mentioned that Jace and Cade saw Samantha on their computer screen. And a few nights later, they went too."

"So it is true that she was in the Dream World." Rayna said. "And the story of the guy she met and that he threatened her… maybe Jax's theory on there being someone putting people into the Dream World isn't so farfetched after all."

"Wow, and that was just a wild guess!" Jax said.

"But even though it does seem like that could happen, we'll need to confirm it." Ember said. "The question is how can we figure it out? How are people that are not Persona users going into the Dream World before midnight?"

"As much as I hate to say it… We may need to wait to figure that one out if someone else falls asleep and doesn't wake up." Alex said. "When Rayna was in the Dream World, we saw a silhouette on the first rainy night on the computer, but we couldn't make it out. But on the next night which was also rainy, there she was, clearly on the computer screen."

"Or at least that could've been her shadow self." Jax said. He then perked up again, "Do you think if we look at the computer on the next rainy night with not seeign who it is clearly, it can give us an advantage on figuring out who could be next inside?"

"It all depends… Maybe if someone is trapping people in there, they look at the silhouette and figure it out who will be next." Ember wondered. "We might have to do the same… the next time it rains."

"Well, we at least got something out of this." Rayna said with a chuckle.

"Yep, we wait for it to rain again and see if anyone else gets trapped in there." Alex said. "And maybe then, we can see if anyone else is involved in this."

"While rescuing the person in there in the process!" Jax said.

* * *

 **Social Link Progress:**

 **Fool** (Dream World Rescue Team):Rank 3  
 **Chariot** (Jaxson Devitt):Rank 2  
 **Lovers** (Ember Farrelly): Rank 2  
 **Magician** (Damien Richards & Edgar Edwards): Rank 2  
 **Hermit** (Kayley Jones): Rank 1  
 **Star** (Rayna Sullivan-Good): Rank 1

Looks like Alex and his friends have a lead on what's causing the deaths. Is their theory correct though? Is someone else really behind the Dream World and the deaths? Only time will tell.

Next chapter might be a filler again, but I dunno. See ya then!


	10. Exploring Around

'Ello friends! Got another chapter of this out! Dunno how I did with this, if I did good or bad, but stuff happens... read on to see!

* * *

 **Chapter 10: Exploring Around**

 _Date: Sunday, August 27th_

 _[Background Music: Persona 4 OST: Signs Of Love]_

 _Bzzz! Bzzz! Bzzz!_

"Ugh..." Alex groaned as he opened his eyes. He heard his cell phone vibrate on his nightstand and picked it up. "Who's texting me this early?" He saw he had a group text from Ember to both him and Jax.

 _Hey. Rayna texted me and asked if we can go into the Dream World tonight. -Ember_

 _Why? There's no one trapped in there. Can she wait until next time it rains? -Alex_

 _Rayna is pretty impatient, she probably wants to go in and see what she can do with her Persona. -Jax_

 _That's what she told me, so you're right Jax. -Ember_

Alex shook his head with a chuckle and texted back. _So does that mean we're going in tonight? -Alex_

 _Well you are our leader, Alex. You want to go in tonight, just to give Rayna a taste of what we can do? -Ember_

"Wait, what? I'm not the leader." Alex said to himself as he replied. _I'm no leader, but if she really wants to go, then sure. -Alex_

 _You kidding?! You're the one who can use more than one Persona, you're the leader of our rescue team! -Jax_

 _Also we need to get Rayna a weapon and it's time we upgrade our weapons, they're getting pretty beat up already. I may also change my weapon… I don't think the naginata will work for me. -Ember_

 _Those are the only weapons I have! How are we going to get new ones without anyone getting suspicious? -Jax_

 _Oh don't worry, I know just the person we can talk to. Get your weapons and meet me with Rayna at the park. I'll show you where we can go from there. Make sure to keep the weapons in the bag! -Ember_

 _Okay, we'll meet you there. -Alex_

Alex wrote that last text and got out of bed. "This early on a weekend? Why would-" Alex then looked at his alarm clock and saw… that it was 1:30 in the afternoon. "...Oops..."

After inwardly calling himself an idiot, he got dressed, put his sword in a large bag, and was able to sneak out of the house with it without his parents noticing.

"Goingoutwithfriendsbye!" Alex said really fast as he dashed out of the house.

* * *

 _[Background Music: Persona 3 OST: When The Moon's Reaching Out Stars]_

Once the four met up at the park, Ember led them into an older part of town. Most of the area looked like run down buildings, but there was one that had a sign on the top that read "Castagnoli Metalworks". They walked inside of the building and their jaws dropped at what they saw. There were weapons of every kind in there as well as armor and shields and a lot of other stuff.

"What… is this?" Alex asked.

"I didn't know a store like this existed and I lived here forever!" Rayna said.

"This is a metalworks shop." Ember explained. "A friend of my dad's owns this place and he can make all sorts of weapons. Give him any scrap of metal and he'll make something."

"...Maybe this is where Mom and Dad got the weapons." Jax thought.

"Ember! Didn't expect to see you here!" A man's voice was heard. Walking behind the counter was a bald man with slight facial hair and he wore a plain white dress shirt and gray dress pants. He also had what sounded like a Swiss accent.

"Hello Mr. Castagnoli!" Ember greeted.

"Ember, how many times do I need to tell you that you don't need to be so formal? Just call me Claudio." Claudio laughed.

"Sorry, just used to being polite." Ember chuckled.

"What can I get you today? Or are you just here to talk with your friends?" Claudio asked.

"Actually… Please don't tell our parents this because this is for something serious, but Alex and Jax want improved weapons while I want something else and Rayna should get something." Ember said.

Claudio blinked, he was surprised they wanted weapons. "...You kids better not get into any trouble with these weapons. What exactly are you going to do with them?"

"We have a feeling there's something going on in town, so we want them just to be safe." Ember said. "But again, don't tell our parents."

Claudio thought about it for a while, then sighed a bit. "Okay, I can supply you for what you want. But if you do anything wrong with these, I will tell your parents."

"It won't be any trouble, sir." Alex said politely.

"Ah, you must be the new friend Ember told me about." Claudio said.

"She told you about me?" Alex asked.

"Yes, I know about Jax, Rayna, and her other friends, but she recently told me about a new friend she met and she said you were a good kid so far." Claudio smiled.

"Well… thanks." Alex scratched his head. "Surprised I'm already getting known around here."

"Silvercrest is a small town, it'll happen to newcomers." Claudio laughed. "Anyway, what do you four need?"

Alex and Jax put their sword and knuckles on the counter while Ember put her naginata on the counter and explained that she wanted something lighter. Rayna just suggested him to surprise her. After taking a look at the sword and knuckles, Claudio said he'd be back in a few minutes and went to the back of the store.

It took a while and the four sat on a bench in the store as they began to get bored. But after a few sounds of metal hitting against each other, Claudio came back out with his arms full of weapons.

"Alrighty, I was able to set both Alex and Jaxson up with stronger versions of their weapons." Claudio picked up a shiny iron sword. "This is yours, Alex. It's steadier than the bronze one you had and a little sharper."

"Oh this will work perfect!" Alex stared at his new sword in awe.

"Careful not to cut yourself." Claudio warned. He then picked up two knuckles. They weren't brass anymore, but iron and they had spikes on them. "There's Jax's."

"Oh ho ho! Sweet!" Jax had a wide smile, looking at his new weapons.

"And Ember, you said you wanted something that can still hit good but was lighter. I think this will work for you." Claudio then picked up a white staff with one spike on the top and two on the sides.

"A staff? I'll take it!" Ember said grabbing her new weapon.

"What do I get?" Rayna asked.

"And for Rayna..." Claudio picked up two black folding fans and handed them to Rayna.

"...Fans? These are my weapons you chose for me?" Rayna sounded disappointed.

"Unfold them and look, they're not just plain old fans." Claudio said.

Rayna raised an eyebrow before unfolding the fans. When she did, she saw between the folds on the fans, there were small blades on the top. "Whoa! ...You are right about that. ...Maybe these will work."

"Thank you very much, Claudio." Ember smiled.

"No problem. Now remember, be careful with those." Claudio said. He saw Ember put some money on the counter and he pushed it back to her. "These ones are on the house, other ones you get from now on though you'll need to pay for."

"These will work for a while. Thank you very much!" Alex thanked. Everyone put their weapons in their bags and walked out of the store. "Rayna, you still sure you want to go into the Dream World tonight? You do know there may be little to nothing there since it hasn't rained."

"I want to see, there has to be something else there!" Rayna said. "Besides, I want to see what my Persona can do."

"Okay, remember to go to sleep at midnight tonight. We should all meet up at the Dream World entrance if done right." Ember said.

"Gotcha, I'll see you guys tonight!" Rayna said before the four went their separate ways.

* * *

 _[Background Music: Persona 4 OST: Who's There?]_

Midnight struck and Alex was the first one to arrive at the entrance of the Dream World. Ember wasn't too far after him and Jax right after her. Rayna was the last one in and she looked at the entrance.

"...Yep, I don't remember starting out in here." Rayna said.

"And look, the gold door is there!" Ember said pointing to do the door.

"Does that mean someone is in here?" Alex asked walking to the door. He opened it up… and it was what Rayna's dream looked like.

"...My dream is still here? I thought we beat my shadow." Rayna said.

"Maybe someone is in there. Let's go in and see!" Jax said as he began to run inside, but Alex held him back.

"Hang on, before we go, we have to get suited up." Alex said as he closed his eyes and his mask floated down. Jax and Ember did the same and they put on their masks and got into their battle gear.

"Ohhh… so that's how you do it." Rayna said seeing her friends get into their gear. She closed her eyes as well as her green winged mask lowered down. She grabbed it and put it on her face. When she opened her eyes, she was in her battle gear which was a dark green colored leotard with wing-like ends on the shoulders, a black design that looked like a chestplate in the middle, long black fingerless gloves on her arms, a green feathery skirt, black leggings, and green high heels. (The design looks similar to the outfits the Sailor Scouts in Sailor Moon wear.)

"That looks awesome, Rayna!" Ember commented with a smile. "You look ready to fight. What do you think, guys." Ember did not get a response. "...Guys?"

She turned around to see Alex's face blushing red and Jax… well, Jax's mouth was agape and he was having an anime-style nosebleed as blood poured out of his nostrils.

"Figures..." Ember sighed.

"Don't worry Em, I got this." Rayna grinned. She took out one of her fans, and without opening it up since it had blades inside, she slapped both Alex and Jax across the face with it.

"YIPE!" Alex shouted as he got slapped.

"WHO WHAT WHERE WHY HOW?!" Jax shouted after he got slapped, frantically moving his head around. He received another fan slap to the face to snap out of it.

"Stop drooling! We have a dream to investigate!" Rayna said before heading to the door.

"Why are guys such perverts?" Ember asked shaking her head.

"Wow… Rayna looks so hot in that outfit..." Jax whispered to Alex. "It makes me… feel weird down there." He moved his eyes downward, implying what he means.

"TMI Jax! TMI!" Alex said as he pushed Jax towards the door. They all then got their weapons ready. "Let's see what we can find in here."

 _[Background Music: Persona 4 OST: Castle]_

The four ran into Rayna's dream looking to see if they could find anything. They didn't even get down the first hall as three Monopolizing Cupids appeared in front of them.

"Shadows!" Jax shouted.

"I'll take one down! Fuu-Ki!" Alex put his hand on his mask and his Star Persona Fuu-Ki appeared. "Torrent Shot!" With the order, Fuu-Ki threw his double ended weapon at one of the Cupids and it disappeared.

"My turn!" Jax said before he touched his mask and Balor appeared above him. "Sonic Punch, Balor!" Balor lunged forward and punched another Cupid away. "Two down! Your turn, Em."

"Why are we using our Personas for these weak shadows?" Ember asked.

"To show Rayna how these work. Now send out Brigid because this last one is coming after you!" Alex said as the last Cupid was making its way to Ember.

"Alright… Brigid, Skewer!" Ember put her hand on her mask and Brigid appeared. At her host's order, she used her staff to take out the last Cupid. With the three Cupids gone, the Personas went back inside of their hosts.

"And that's how you do it." Alex grinned.

"Gotcha, now I know what to do." Rayna said. "Let's continue!"

They continued on through the dream and they kept coming across small shadows and it was easy for them to take down. As they were getting close to the room Rayna and her shadow self was in previously however, a group of Cowardly Mayas blocked the way.

"Shit! These freakin' shadows are blocking us! Ember, have Brigid use that light attack." Jax said.

Ember was about to summon Brigid again, but Rayna stopped her. "Hang on, maybe I can do something." Rayna put her hand on her mask, "Persona!" With that call, her Persona Eris appeared above her. "Attack with Twin Slash on those shadows!" The order was made and Eris nodded and went to the shadows. Before she attacked however, the feathers on her arms suddenly turned sharp and she attacked the Mayas one by one until they were gone.

"...Damn!" Alex said in surprise.

"Wow… Good moves, Eris!" Rayna commented. Eris just responded with another nod before going back into Rayna's mind.

"Onto that room! If this dream is still here, there may be something in that room." Ember said as the four went up the stairs and made it to the room Rayna was in last time.

"Here it is, let's see if something is in there." Alex whispered, he opened the door and the team went in.

When they walked in, they did not see a person in there, but they did see what looked like a red and black clothed table with a blue mask on it and some fiery objects floating above it. This was known as a Crying Table.

"...A table? That's what's in here?" Jax asked disappointed. "See what you got us to come here for, Rayna?"

"I didn't know it was going to be a table here!" Rayna shouted.

"…I don't think that's a plain old table, guys..." Alex said… as at that moment, the Crying Table turned at the team and blasted a multi-target Maragi fire attack and them.

"INCOMING!" Jax shouted as the four were able to dodge the fire.

"Guys, looks like we came here for a good reason after all." Alex said standing up. "Let's fight this table!"

"Right!" The other three nodded.

 _[Background Music: Persona 4 OST: Reach Out To The Truth]_

"Persona!" All four shouted at the same time and Balor, Brigid, and Eris appeared above their hosts while Alex sent out his Hermit Persona Ippon-Datara.

"Sledgehammer!" Alex called out as Ippon-Datara hit the Crying Table, but it looked like it barely took any damage. "Didn't work I don't think!"

"I got this! Agi, Balor!" Jax ordered and Balor shot an Agi fire attack at the Crying Table… and the Agi did no damage whatsoever. "What?! It didn't do anything-"

"Jax watch out!" Ember called out.

"Watch out for- AH!" Jax was hit by one of the Crying Table's floating weapons.

"I got it!" Ember ordered Brigid for an attack and she ran towards the enemy with her staff in her hands and went for a hit. But the Crying Table moved out of the way and Ember too got a hit with a floating weapon.

"You guys are doing it wrong! Eris, use Garu!" Rayna called out and Eris released a wind attack on the enemy. It looked like it did some damage. "Got it!" She then took out her fans and threw them both, they hit but once again looked like they hardly did damage.

"...I don't think physical attacks will hurt it!" Ember said getting up.

"No duh!" Jax said getting up as well. "Looks like my attacks are useless and so are Em's!"

"Then Rayna and I will take care of it! Ember, stand by if we need healing!" Alex called out.

"I'll be here." Ember said.

"Eris, another Garu!" Rayna ordered and Eris was about to do another Garu… when the Crying Table suddenly attacked Rayna with a Torrent Shot with one of the weapons. "Ah!"

"Rayna!" Alex called out. He was about to call out another Persona, but the Crying Table launched an Agi at Alex, and it was very effective! "Ugh!"

"Brigid, Dia on Alex!" Ember ordered as Brigid pointed her staff at Alex and a green glow appeared around him, healing him.

"Oh sure, heal him!" Rayna said sarcastically.

"Brigid's Dia can only heal one person." Ember said.

Alex stood up, and seeing what the Crying Table's element was, he had an idea on what it could be weak against. "Change!" He touched his mask and Ippon-Datara retreated into the mask and the Magician Arcana card appeared. "Jack Frost!" The little white Magician Persona appeared with its huge smile.

"Aww! It's cute." Rayna commented.

"Jack Frost, use Mabufu!" Alex ordered and Jack Frost released an ice attack on the Crying Table… and it looked effective as the Table lowered.

"That's the weakness! Ice is the Table's weakness!" Ember shouted.

"Only Alex has ice moves though!" Jax said.

"Then let's take it down… Jack Frost, do another!" Alex ordered.

"Hee ho!" Jack Frost let out a noise before he released another Mabufu, the Crying Table looked even more weak.

"We got it!" Rayna cheered. "Let me finish it!"

"All yours, Rayna." Alex backed up.

"Alright, table! Meet your maker!" Rayna called out. "Eris, Garu!" Eris released a Garu once again hurting the Crying Table. Although it may have been hurt, it did release another Agi right at Rayna. "Not this time!" Rayna jumped over the Agi to dodge it and as she was in the air, she swung her fans at the Crying Table and they hit! And it seemed those were the last hits as the Crying Table disappeared. It was defeated.

 **[Level Ups:**

 **Ippon-Datara learned Mudo**

 **Eris learned Magaru]**

 _[Background Music: None]_

"We did it!" Rayna cheered as everyone returned their Personas. "Looks like it was worth it to come here tonight after all."

"Nah, the battle was too easy." Jax said.

"But we haven't seen anything else here, guess we are done here and we wait for the next rainy night." Ember said.

"Looks like it, but at least Ember knows how to use her Perso-" Alex stopped his sentence when he thought he saw something near the doorway of the room.

"...Something wrong, Alex?" Rayna asked.

Alex pointed to the door and they saw what looked like a person standing there! The person was all in black so they didn't see any features.

"Hey!" Alex called out. And when he did…

 _[Background Music: Persona 5 OST: Fall of Anger]_

...Whoever it was took off running down the stairs!

"After that person!" Alex ordered and the four ran down the stairs chasing after what they saw. As they ran however they lost track of where it went and they eventually made it out of the dream and back to the entrance. Whoever it was was now gone. "...I wasn't the only one that saw that right?!"

"No… we saw it too!" Rayna said.

"So… someone really was in here!" Ember said wide-eyed.

"But how do we know it wasn't someone stuck here?" Jax asked.

"It didn't ask for help or ask us why we were here. It ran!" Alex said.

"Maybe they thought we were enemies?" Rayna suggested.

"No Rayna, if it was someone trapped they'd probably be in danger or ask for help… this person ran." Ember said. "Someone is able to get in here like us…"

"So does that mean my hunch is right?!" Jax asked.

"Still can't confirm it, but let's talk more about it tomorrow." Ember said.

"Agreed… getting tired." Alex said with a yawn. "I'll see you all tomorrow."

The team took off their masks and made their way out of the Dream World.

* * *

 _Date: Monday, August 28th_

 _[Background Music: Persona 4 OST: Reasoning]_

After school, the team went to the ice cream parlor and sat at a table where they could talk.

"According to the forecast, it's supposed to rain on the first day of September." Ember informed, checking the weather on her phone.

"Looks like we know when to watch our computer screens." Alex said.

"Well the forecast isn't always right, so should we really trust that?" Rayna asked.

"Rayna, the forecast has been right for a whole month, don't think it's going to suddenly be wrong." Jax said.

"Anyway, we should probably talk about what we saw last night." Ember said. "What do you guys think? Think there really is a killer going in there and pushing people in dreams?"

"I don't think this person is pushing people in the dreams, I think if he has a Persona like us, he may have a power to grab people as they sleep and put them into the Dream World." Jax suggested.

"...Okay Jax, we may have proven a bit of your first hunch since we saw someone in there last night, but this one sounds really ridiculous." Rayna said.

"What? I mean come on! We saw a possible killer in the Dream World last night! There has to be a way he's bringing people in!" Jax shouted.

"That part will be hard to figure out, but all we do know is someone was in there and it was not anyone trapped." Alex said. "Maybe it is indeed a killer."

Ember thought and came up with something, "Mr. and Mrs. Kellser mentioned Samantha was dating someone and that person threatened to harm her after he found out she was once married and had kids. Maybe after the argument he had anger and that's why he sent her there? Or what if it was a mistake?"

"How can it be a mistake?" Alex asked. "After she died, Jace and Cade died shortly after in the same way. No doubt they were taken to the Dream World and trapped in there as well."

"Here's what confuses me… We don't have anything that connects Hastings and O'Brian to the Smithes." Rayna said. "Samantha and the boys are connected because they're family, but what about Hastings and O'Brian?"

"The Kellsers said they knew their daughter was seeing someone but they did not know his name or what he looked like, that's a big roadblock right there." Alex sighed.

The palor door opened and the team heard, "Hey, they updated the flavors!"

"Lucky for us Good is paying."

"Only because it's my turn to buy you guys crap this week."

The four turned and saw Jon with Sebei and Lopez walk in, with Jon not looking too thrilled with having to buy his detective partners ice cream.

"Hey Dad!" Rayna waved to her dad.

"Oh hi Rayna!" Jon waved back while the other two were ordering their ice cream. After they were done ordering they saw the kids while they waited.

"Wow, we keep running into you kids!" Sebei said. "You all behaving?"

"We are, sir." Ember nodded.

"Seems like it's a slow day at the office today." Alex chuckled.

"Yeah it kinda is." Lopez said. "We were originally going to get coffee but I wanted to see how the ice cream was here. I never tried it."

"The ice cream is the best here!" Jax grinned. "You should've tried it sooner!"

Lopez chuckled, "Hope it does relax us a bit. Jon has been driving us crazy as he keeps thinking the coma deaths aren't what they seem."

"Sorry to butt in here, but is there even a slight possibility that the deaths could've been from murder?" Alex asked.

"That is a strange idea..." Sebei said.

"Well there may be a possibility, it is very rare a death like that can be caused by murder." Lopez said. "I mean it can happen, like poisoning or strangulation, but from the autopsies we saw there were no signs of those. ...That is what Jon is thinking though."

"Um… just theoretically speaking, but if these deaths were actually murder, is there a way Hastings and O'Brian could've been connected?" Ember asked.

"If you're speaking theoretically, then maybe the culprit could've had an altercation with both Hastings and O'Brian and wanted to take them both out. Other than that… no that may be it." Lopez said.

"We still think these deaths were comas though, I don't know how it can be murder when there was nothing lethal either in or done with their bodies." Sebei said.

"...Although we could double check, maybe there was something that was missed." Lopez said.

"Hey dumbbells! Your ice cream is ready!" Jon called out.

"Oh! Yeah!" Both Lopez and Sebei walked to the counter and got their bowls of ice cream. "Thank you very much."

"Lopez! Watch where you're wal-"

"WHOA!" Lopez shouted as he suddenly tripped over a garbage can. Luckily the ice cream stayed in the bowl, but that clumsy fall caused everyone in the parlor to face palm. "Hehe… guess I wasn't watching where I was going…"

With those words, the three detectives walked out. As they left, Alex rolled his eyes, "Yep, I don't think the police will get anything done there."

"Check please!" Jax held up his arm.

"We didn't even order anything, idiot." Rayna said.

* * *

 _[Background Music: Persona 3 OST: Iwatodai Station]_

"Mom! I'm home!" Alex called out walking into his house.

"Welcome home!" Sarah said. She was in the kitchen stirring up food on the stove. "Dinner's almost ready and your dad should be home from work in a few minutes."

"How's Dad doing with his new job? He hasn't told me how he's been doing." Alex said sitting down at the table.

"He said teaching college history classes is tough, but he's glad he's finally able to do so." Sarah smiled. She then sighed. "Alex… promise me you won't get into any trouble here, okay?"

"I won't, Mom. I promise." Alex said, noticing his mom's change in behavior. "Something wrong?"

"I'll… I'll tell you about it later. I just want to make sure you're okay." Sarah said. That's when she suddenly walked her to her son and gave him a hug. And being the son, Alex instantly hugged her back. "Don't do anything stupid..."

"I won't… I won't." Alex said as the hug was broken. That's when the glass shattering sound was heard and time stopped.

 _[Background Music: Persona 3 OST: The Power of the Heart]_

This Arcana card was mostly blue with two key symbols on the top corners and two silhouettes of people in the bottom corners staring at a symbol in the middle of the card.

 _ **"** **Thou art I… And I am thou…**_

 _ **Thou hast established a new bond… It brings thee closer to the truth…**_

 _ **Thou shalt be blessed with a Persona of the Hierophant Arcana…"**_

" _You have established a new bond, the bond of the Hierophant..."_ Margaret's voice was heard. _"As your Rank 1 Hierophant Persona, you shall receive… Anzu."_

The Arcana card turned to a blue bird-like creature that had a lion head. Anzu gave a roar at Alex before going inside of him and time resuming.

 _[Background Music: Persona 3 OST: Iwatodai Station]_

"You can go ahead and go to your room for a bit, I'll call you when dinner is done." Sarah said.

Alex nodded and went to his room. He put down his backpack and took off his boots and sat on his bed.

" _I got a Social Link with Mom? Why did I get one with her?"_ Alex thought. _"Well, she does seem worried about me since we got here… She is being a good mom, I guess."_

Alex stood up and went to close the curtains on his window, but when he looked out, he saw something.

 _[Background Music: Persona 5 OST: Suspicious Person]_

Standing out on the sidewalk near his house staring straight ahead, Alex saw a man. He couldn't see all of the man since it was dark and he was wearing all black, but he did notice that this man was holding an umbrella over his head despite it not raining. The man slowly turned his head to the window, in which Alex could not see the face due to the dark. Alex got a bit startled by the man seeing him, but it didn't last when the man walked away across the sidewalk.

"What… was that? Could that…?" Alex asked himself. That man did seem suspicious just there.

"I'm home!" Frankie's voice was heard from the kitchen and the front door closed.

"Dad!" Alex ran out of his room as his dad arrived home, forgetting about what he just saw at the moment.

* * *

 **Social Link Progress:**

 **Fool** (Dream World Rescue Team):Rank 3  
 **Chariot** (Jaxson Devitt):Rank 2  
 **Lovers** (Ember Farrelly): Rank 2  
 **Magician** (Damien Richards & Edgar Edwards): Rank 2  
 **Hermit** (Kayley Jones): Rank 1  
 **Star** (Rayna Sullivan-Good): Rank 1  
 **Hierophant** (Sarah Gerdelman): Rank 1

* * *

Thanks to Rayna wanting to go into the Dream World, they spotted someone in there with them! Could it be the same person that was outside of Alex's house? Only time will tell.

Next few chapters will probably be just Alex ranking up Social Links. See ya!


	11. A Day In Town: Part 1

Yello fellow readers! Another update of my Persona story... again! Hey! I'll probably stop once I finally get Persona 5... or when I get Pokemon Ultra Sun and Moon which means Pokemon Academy will probably get updated more.

Anyway just some Social Link development in this chapter. Hope it's good!

* * *

 **Chapter 11: A Day In Town: Part 1**

 _Date: Tuesday, August 29th_

 _[Background Music: Persona 3 OST: Want To Be Close]_

Alex walked down the hall at school and stopped in front of his locker. As he began to do the combination, he heard a voice from down the hall.

"Hey Alex!"

Alex turned and saw Damien and Ed waving across the hall. "Damien! Ed! What's up?"

The two ran to Alex with smiles on their faces. "Tonight's our first game of the year and it's a home game. Want to come and watch?" Ed asked.

"A game already? Didn't tryouts happen like a week ago?" Alex asked.

"Yeah well… as we've said Cena is very competitive and we did have practice all week after the tryouts..." Damien chuckled. "So yeah, we already have a game tonight and we want you to come and watch."

At first, Alex was thinking no since he wasn't exactly a sports fan. But then he thought of how he wanted to bond more with Damien and Ed. So he replied with, "...Okay, I'll be there. What time?"

"The pep band starts playing at about 6:30, so around that time." Ed said.

"We'll see you there, dude!" Damien waved as the two went off to class.

"Break a leg out there!" Alex called out. He then grabbed his books and went to his first class.

* * *

 _[Background Music: Persona 3 OST: Joy]_

"You're going to a basketball game tonight? Boring!" Rayna laughed as she and Alex walked into town after school to hang out.

"Damien and Ed are my friends, I have to support them." Alex laughed as well.

"Go ahead and support them, but you may fall asleep before the half time. Sports are so boring." Rayna said. She was looking around as the two walked and they passed by a burger stand. "Hang on… I have to see what's on these burgers!" Rayna ran to the stand and asked the person behind it. When she got an answer, she shouted, "Bacon and peppers?! No way! Alex, we need to try one of these!"

"A burger sounds good to me!" Alex smiled, his stomach already set for food.

Once he got up, the owner of the stand got the burgers ready and handed them to the two. The burgers were large in size with two burger patties, two slices of cheese in between them, six strips of bacon, and a huge pile of peppers at the top. Normally Alex would gobble it up, but with how many peppers that were on the burger, he didn't even have it close to his face and he could smell the hottness of it.

"Mmmm! This looks SO GOOD!" Rayna drooled over the bacon and pepper covered burger. "Let's dig in, man!"

Rayna took a huge bite of the burger and began to chew it. Alex was a little delayed due to how hot it was, but he followed suit and took a bite. At first their chewing was fast and they looked to enjoy what they were eating. But then the chewing slowed down, they slowly swallowed their bites, and their faces began to turn red. And with this happening, they both shouted one thing…

"...HOT!" They then dropped their burgers and ran into a store right next to the stand.

A few minutes later, Alex and Rayna walked out of the door holding bottles of water and wiping their faces with paper towels as they sat down on a bench.

"Holy crap! My mouth felt like there were actual flames coming out!" Alex breathed taking a sip of the water.

"I know I'm not getting another burger from that stand!" Rayna said. She then laughed as she remembered something. "I was five when I ate my first pepper. I saw the jar open on the table and I wanted to try one, so I reached in and took a bite out of one. It was so hot for my little mouth that I ran and cried to my dad, saying my mouth was on fire and he needed to put it out! He gave me a glass of water and the heat was gone. ...I didn't eat another pepper again until I was twelve and now I like them, but not too many."

"I like them too, but yeah, not too many." Alex chuckled.

"You have any funny food stories?" Rayna asked.

"Well with me liking food the way I do, you'd think so, but I don't think I do." Alex said. "...Although I once tried biting a tree when I was four because I thought trees were big pieces of broccoli."

Rayna laughed out loud, "You thought trees were broccoli?!"

"Come on, I was a stupid kid!" Alex pouted. "And maybe that's why I hate broccoli to this day."

"Now I wish I knew you then just so I can see you try to bite a tree." Rayna laughed.

Alex grinned and took another sip of his water. After he did, time froze around him as the Star Arcana card appeared in front of him with a 2 on the bottom before time resumed.

"Oh! I forgot to ask for your number!" Alex said taking out his phone.

"Ooh, already asking for my number huh?" Rayna said in a jokingly flirtatious tone.

"It's just as friends Rayna, and for Dream World stuff." Alex laughed back as the two exchanged numbers.

They continued to talk for a little bit more before Rayna had to head home and Alex had to do the same so he could do some homework before the game.

* * *

 _[Background Music: Persona 4 OST: Like A Dream Come True]_

It was the final round in the basketball game and Alex was actually interested if Silvercrest was going to win. There was 30 seconds on the clock and the score was tied as the other team had the ball. The team member who had the ball dribbled it a bit too hard and it bounced out of his hands with one of the Silvercrest players grabbing it. They ran to the other end of the court, the player threw the ball to Ed, who dribbled the ball and threw it to Damien. And with one hard throw, the ball flew towards the basket and went through!

"The Silvercrest Sabers make the final score! They win their first game of the year! What a game!" The game announcer called out.

Alex stood up with the rest of the Saber-Tooth Tiger fans and cheered, albeit he was cheering more for Damien and Ed's hard work. He watched as the team ran to each other and cheered for one another. Damien and Ed looked up and waved at Alex as they saw him, who waved back at them.

"Good game, team!" Coach Cena said to the players. "Go to the lockers, get changed, and you can leave. Good job tonight!"

Alex waited in the gym as the team went to get changed. He waited for around fifteen minutes before players started coming out.

"Great game out there, guys!" Alex commented as Damien and Ed walked out with their gym bags.

"And we're surprised you actually came!" Ed commented. "We didn't think you would."

"I'll admit, I was actually interested in the final round." Alex chuckled.

"Both teams were tied, but thanks to us we won!" Damien held up his hand in determination.

But as he held his hand up, he turned his head and froze. Walking past the gym was a long black haired girl with brown eyes and she wore a white tank top underneath a pink jacket, blue jean skirt, and black boots.

"Hey, there's your girlfriend, Damien." Ed smirked.

"Oh… that's Carly you talked about?" Alex asked.

"Yeah… that's her." Damien said, slowly moving his arm down.

"Well what are you waiting for? Aren't you going to talk to her?" Alex asked.

Damien looked at Alex like he was crazy, "I… I-I don't know if I can!"

"Come on! You said you were finally going to tell her how you feel this year, now is the time to start." Alex encouraged.

"Alex is right, tell her now, dude!" Ed joined in. "Tell her now before it's too late."

Damien let out a huge sigh, "Okay fine… I'll tell her. You're right… now is the time!" He stood up straight, put his hands to the side, and began walking towards Carly. "Um… hi Carly."

"Damien! Hi!" Carly turned and greeted with a huge smile. "Good job tonight! I can see why you and Ed are still the best players."

"Heh… thanks." Damien blushed a little. He looked down at his feet, "Listen Carly… There's something I want to ask you."

"What is it?" Carly asked.

"I… um..." Damien briefly looked over to Alex and Ed, who moved their hands urging him to continue. "Um… I..." He scratched the back of his head for a while before finally saying, "...Do you need help studying for Calculus?"

Both Alex and Ed had looks of disbelief when Damien said that; Alex slumped his shoulders while Ed face palmed.

Carly blinked at that question, "I'm… doing fine with Calculus, but thank you for asking."

"Good, good, I just wanted to ask." Damien chuckled nervously.

"I better go, Dad is probably here now. See you at school tomorrow!" Carly waved before walking out of the gym.

"You too, Carly!" Damien waved. But when she was out of sight, he started hitting himself on the head, "Stupid! Stupid! Stupid!"

"That was your chance and you messed it up!" Ed said.

"I know! I guess I just got too nervous!" Damien rubbed his head.

"Maybe he just needs a little more time to get his nervousness out." Alex said. "Let's give him more time and he can try again."

"Yeah… maybe that's what I need to do… I need to get my head on straight." Damien said. "...At least she sees me as a cool guy."

"I think you two have a chance together." Ed smiled.

Once Ed said that, time froze around Alex as the Magician Arcana card appeared in front of him and a 3 appeared below it. Another Social Link rank up!

"Thank you guys for inviting me tonight." Alex thanked. "As I said I was actually glad our team won their first game."

"We will surely invite you to the next game." Ed laughed. The three boys said their goodbyes before walking out of the school and heading home.

* * *

 _Date: Wednesday, August 30th_

 _[Background Music: Persona 4 OST: SMILE]_

School was done for the day and Alex was walking home, although today since he wanted to work on Social Links, he decided to walk by the Roseberry Park to see if Kayley was there. He made his way down the route and passed by. As he did, he saw Kayley there by herself on the swing, the same way he saw her a week ago.

 _"There she is."_ Alex thought before he walked over to her. "Hi Kayley!"

"Huh?" Kayley quickly moved her head up hearing her name. "...Alex… is that right? You remembered?"

"Of course I did." Alex said. "I just came by to ask if you'd like to hang out today. Would you like to go somewhere and hang out so we can know each other more?"

Kayley sighed, "I don't… really feel like hanging out anywhere… I don't want people to pick on me..."

"...I'm sorry." Alex apologized before sitting down on the swing next to her. "...Do people pick on you everywhere you go?"

"Not everywhere, but when people see I'm alone or they've seen me with my parents, they instantly start to bully me… And I also don't have a whole lot of friends because of that." Kayley lowered her head.

"But now you have me as a friend." Alex chuckled with Kayley chuckling a little. "Hey, there's a root beer float cart over there. Want me to get one for you?"

"Sure." Kayley agreed and nodded. Alex went up and got both of them root beer floats.

The two sat in their swings and enjoyed their floats together as they talked. It seemed to cheer Kayley up as she was smiling as she drank it.

"There's always carts here for food or drinks, but I never bring money when I come here so I haven't done this." Kayley giggled slightly.

"Maybe you should start bringing some then, just in case you want a snack or something." Alex suggested.

While they continued, two women walked past the two, saw Kayley, and began talking to each other. They were whispering to each other, but both Kayley and Alex heard what they said.

"That girl in the hoodie… I see her a lot here." The one woman said.

"Is she an orphan or something? I never see her with parents." The other woman said.

"I don't think she is. I think her parents are the owners of that house." The first woman suspected.

"That house? What do you mean by- Oh… you mean the one for those rehab people?" The second woman asked.

"I think so." The women continued their talking while they walked. As they did, Kayley lowered her head again.

"I'm known as that girl from that house..." She sighed.

"What house are they talking about?" Alex asked.

"I'll… tell you eventually… Not really comfortable talking about it right now..." Kayley said. She sipped the last of her float from the cup. "Thank you for the float, and also for hanging out with me today."

"No problem, Kayley." Alex said with a smile. Time stopped around him again and the number 2 appeared underneath the Hermit Arcana card.

"You'll come back again, right?" Kayley asked.

"I will, once I'm not busy with school that is." Alex laughed slightly. He said his goodbye to Kayley before heading home.

* * *

 _[Background Music: Persona 4 OST: Signs Of Love]_

Once Alex got home and saying hello to Sarah, he went to his room to do his homework. Luckily he only had Geography today so he wouldn't have much. He went to his desk, took out his notebook and textbook and began to work.

As he only had a few more questions to answer, Sarah knocked on the door before walking into the room. She was holding a plate of fresh baked chocolate chip cookies.

"Hi Alex, want a cookie while you're doing your homework?" Sarah asked.

"I'm almost done, but I can stop for a cookie break." Alex smiled as he grabbed a cookie and instantly took a bite. The cookie was softer and had more chips in it than normal. "Hmm! Delicious, Mom! As usual! Although it is softer than it usually is, but I'm not complaining."

"Well I found a recipe that said if you add less white sugar and more brown sugar, the cookies will be soft for longer after you take them out. I also put in a full bag of chocolate chips instead of just half." Sarah explained.

"Good find, Mom!" Alex commented as he ate the whole cookie.

 _[Background Music: Persona 5 OST: Confession Secret]_

He looked up however and saw Sarah wasn't looking too happy. "Mom… everything okay?"

Sarah sighed, "...I got a call from your grandma today."

"What did she say…?" Alex asked. He knew his mother and grandmother haven't exactly been on great terms for years, ever since his parents got married. He only saw his grandma a few times and it was mostly during holidays when he was a kid.

"She just asked how you were doing and how you were holding up here… I told her you were doing fine..." Sarah said. "...But she did not ask how I was at all..."

"Why is she always asking how I am but not you?" Alex asked.

"It's because she's worried about you, she has been for seventeen years..." Sarah groaned. "I made the cookies to help me feel better after the call..." Alex then heard her mutter, "She needs to let go of the past… I'm better now!"

"...What exactly happened between you and Grandma?" Alex asked.

Sarah did not give him a clear answer, but she put her hand on his shoulder and said, "...Just stay out of trouble, don't get in with the wrong crowd."

"I already told you, Mom, I will be good." Alex assured.

"You are a good kid, Alex… You really are." Sarah smiled slightly. And once again, time stopped around Alex and the Hierophant Arcana card appeared, with a 2 appearing underneath it. "I should probably go start dinner. You get your homework done."

"Don't worry, I will Mom." Alex said as Sarah walked out of the room and Alex continued to work. But he couldn't help but wonder, "What did Mom mean by letting go of the past?"

* * *

 **Social Link Progress:**

 **Fool** (Dream World Rescue Team): Rank 3  
 **Chariot** (Jaxson Devitt): Rank 2  
 **Lovers** (Ember Farrelly): Rank 2  
 **Magician** (Damien Richards & Edgar Edwards): Rank 3  
 **Hermit** (Kayley Jones): Rank 2  
 **Star** (Rayna Sullivan-Good): Rank 2  
 **Hierophant** (Sarah Gerdelman): Rank 2

* * *

Yep, mostly development but at least Social Links got ranked up. XD There will be a little more next chapter but it may be shorter, we'll see if anything else happens.

Later!


	12. A Day In Town: Part 2

What up?! Story update right here and it is Persona again! I know, I was hoping to update others, but then Christmas came... and I got a PS4 and Persona 5! And playing that got me an urge to write on the next chapter of this. This may just be another filler (and the title is stupid), but hey! Progress is progress!

Hope you enjoy!

* * *

 **Chapter 12: A Day In Town: Part 2**

 _Date: Thursday, August 31st_

 _[Background Music: Persona 3 OST: Joy]_

After school was done, Alex and Jax decided to hang out together for the day. They made it downtown before trying to decide what they were going to do.

"So what should we do today dude? Go back to the comic store or to the video game shop?" Jax asked.

"Oh the video game store! I've never been there anyway." Alex suggested.

"That place is awesome! They not only have newer stuff but retro stuff as well such as Ataris and NES!" Jax smiled. "Plus I wanna go there to see if they have a game I've been wanting."

"Let us go then, maybe I'll buy something as well." Alex said as the two began walking to the direction of the game store. But as they walked, Alex noticed something on Jax.

"What's up, man?" Jax asked.

"A ladybug landed on you." Alex said.

This caused Jax to go wide-eyed. "WHAT?!" He shouted. "WHERE IS IT?! GET IT OFF!"

Alex backed up in surprise, "Geez Jax! It's just a ladybug!"

"JUST GET IT OFF! GET IT OFF GET IT OFF GET IT OFF!" Jax screamed flailing his arms around. But that caused the ladybug to move to his chest where he could see it and he screamed louder seeing it.

"Hang on! Hang on! I'll get it! Hold still!" Alex said as Jax stood still and Alex gently moved the ladybug onto his hand and placed it on a blade of grass.

Jax breathed a sigh of relief, "Thanks Alex..."

"It was just a ladybug and you were scared over that?" Alex asked.

"I… I'm scared of bugs." Jax sighed. "They freaking creep me out, man! Which means I am scared of a very stupid thing."

"I've never seen anyone freak out like that just over a bug." Alex chuckled a bit.

"Rayna always laughs when that happens, she's seen me freak out over a bug many times." Jax said. He sighed again, "Scared of little bugs… what a stupid thing to be scared of…"

"It'll take time, Jax. Heck it started with you getting your Persona." Alex said.

"I know, I just… yeah you know, it makes me feel like a wimp." Jax said.

"Just give it some more time, you can do it." Alex nodded. That's when time stopped and the Chariot Arcana card appeared in front of him with a 3 on the bottom.

"Anyway, enough of me being a dope, let's go buy some games!" Jax instantly cheered up as the two headed to the video game store.

* * *

 _[Background Music: Persona 5 OST: Beneath the Mask]_

Later that night, Alex and his parents were sitting in the living room eating dinner. The local news was on the TV while they ate.

"In other local news, Silvercrest mayor Joe Anoa'i held a press conference earlier today and allowed any reporter to ask questions." The anchorwoman said. "However the only questions that were asked were if Mayor Anoa'i would be running for re-election next year. The mayor seemed annoyed by this question being asked by all reporters and he clearly did not want to give an answer at this time, so he just walked off the podium." She turned to her co-anchor, "To be honest, I found those reporters to be disrespectful! I know he is not exactly the best mayor, but it was clear Anoa'i either did not want to answer it or maybe he didn't have an answer at this time."

"Anoa'i obviously had an answer, he just didn't want to say it because he'd be heckled if he said anything!" The anchor said with pure dislike. "He should've just answered the question so everyone will know when the mayor elections happen next year they can either celebrate or start a riot!"

"Poor Mayor Anoa'i..." Sarah sighed. "I met him the other day at the store and he seemed like a really sweet guy."

"Being a sweet guy doesn't guarantee you'll do a good job though. He's done some pretty questionable stuff as mayor from what I heard." Frankie said.

"I heard even his wife and son are getting treated badly by people though and just because they're family." Sarah said.

As his parents were talking, Alex felt his phone vibrate and checked it. It was a group text from Ember.

 _In case you guys didn't see, the forecast changed. It won't rain tomorrow night but instead on Sunday. -Ember_

 _Aw come on! Really? -Jax_

 _Why you complaining about there being no rain tomorrow? -Alex_

 _Because we won't be able to catch the guy who murdered those five and attempted to kill Rayna! -Jax_

 _If that person we saw in the Dream World was actually a killer, Jax. We don't know yet. -Rayna_

 _Also and I can't believe I forgot this, but Monday is Labor Day so that means no school. Maybe we can hang out Monday. -Ember_

 _Hell yeah! No school! What shall we do? -Rayna_

 _Any ideas, Alex? -Jax_

Alex thought about it before responding. _I'm not sure. Maybe we can think of something and suggest it tomorrow at school._

 _Sounds good. We'll see you then! -Ember_

By the time Alex put his phone down, his parents were done talking and the family continued to eat their dinner.

* * *

 _Date: Friday, September 1st_

 _[Background Music: Persona 4 OST: Youthful Lunch]_

"You guys are going to do something on Labor Day? Can I come?" Owen asked during lunch towards the four with Kaylen.

"You and Kaylen both can come if you two want." Alex said. "We just need to figure out where we're going to go."

"So… any ideas on what we're going to do on our Labor Day day off?" Rayna asked.

"Wait, it's Labor Day, so that means most places will be closed." Kaylen said.

"Oh damn! I forgot!" Jax face palmed. "We can't do anything cool?!"

"Hang on, I'll check something." Ember took out her phone and typed in something. After a few seconds, she spoke again, "Well it looks like the go-karting place will be open from nine to two in the afternoon on Labor Day. How's go-karting sound?"

"Ooh! I like that! Let's do it!" Rayna smiled.

"I'm down for that, we can make teams and race each other!" Jax said excitedly.

"A little competition? Sounds good, and the losing team buys lunch." Kaylen laughed.

"Deal!" Jax said.

"What do you think, Alex?" Owen asked. "How's go-karting sound for Labor Day?"

"The last time I did that was when I was a kid, will be awesome to see how it is now. I'm in!" Alex agreed.

As the group of friends agreed on their Labor Day activity, Ember thought of something and decided to ask, "Hey, why don't we invite Jayden? He could use some fun."

"How you going to talk to him though here in school? He's still inside in-school-suspension with Brandon." Rayna asked.

"It's the last day of it today, maybe I can catch him once school is over and ask him." Ember said.

"At least if he's with us there won't be a lot of people staring at him." Jax said.

"We may get some girl attention though from what I hear." Alex said.

"No doubt about that." Kaylen said.

After lunch, the friends continued on with their school day and then went home to enjoy their long three day weekend.

* * *

 _Date: Saturday, September 2nd_

 _[Background Music: Persona 4 OST: Signs Of Love]_

While Alex was waking up from sleeping in and putting on his clothes, he heard his phone vibrate on the nightstand. He checked to see and it was a group text once again from Ember.

 _Forgot to say this after school, but I talked with Jayden and while he was hesitant, he eventually agreed to join us in go-karting. -Ember_

 _Oh yeah! Party time, baby! -Jax_

Alex was glad to hear Jayden agreed to join the six of them. But then he thought of something, "Wait, it was going to be the six of us, but with Jayden it's seven… and we agreed to form teams and turn it into a competition..." He texted back, _Hey, I just realized if Jayden joins us… we'll have an uneven number of people. -Alex_

 _...You're right! -Rayna_

 _Oh well, looks like one team will have to have one more team member. Lol -Alex_

 _No fair, dude! -Jax_

Alex put down his phone to continue getting dressed, but as he did another text appeared. It was from Ember again, but it was just to him.

 _You busy today? Just wanted to ask if you want to hang out. -Ember_

 _It depends, what do you want to do? -Alex_

 _How about I buy lunch? We can get lunch at the bowling alley as well as play in the arcade if you want. -Ember_

 _Sounds awesome! I liked when we went to that bowling alley before. I'll see you there in a few! -Alex_

After that was sent, Alex finished getting ready and made his way out of the house to spend time with Ember.

* * *

 _[Background Music: Persona 4 OST: Like A Dream Come True]_

The two friends met up at the bowling alley and spent the first hour and a half there playing in the arcade. They played mostly on the fighting games with Ember winning most of the rounds. After a tie-breaking round with her winning again, they thought it was lunch time and sat down at a table.

"Man Ember, I didn't think you'd be a big gaming girl." Alex chuckled.

"Well I guess I get that from Mom. She played a lot when I was a kid and she still does." Ember said. "She's even encouraging me to start streaming games, which I am still kind of unsure about."

"How come? I heard streamers can make decent money with the amount of people watching." Alex asked.

Ember was about to respond when their cheeseburger pizza arrived on the table. A man with curly black and silver hair greeted the two.

"Ah Ember, good to see you again!" The man said with a grin.

"Oh hi Mr. Smith!" Ember greeted back.

"Are you always this formal to adults, Em?" Alex asked with a small laugh.

Ember blushed a little at this, "S-sorry, it's just I was always told by my parents to respect my elders."

"You can just call me Tyson though, Ember, you know that." Tyson grinned. "Your parents did treat you well." He then turned to Alex and shook his hand, "You must be Ember's new friend I heard about. I'm Tyson Smith, a friend of her parents."

"Nice to meet you. I'm Alex." Alex returned the handshake. "You work here?"

"I not only work here, but I kind of own this arcade part of the alley with two of my other friends." Tyson said.

"Tyson along with Nick and Matt are a bit of a crazy bunch, that's how they met my parents when we moved here." Ember giggled.

"Speaking of, how's your mom doing?" Tyson asked, which caused Ember to not respond instantly.

"She's… doing fine." Ember said.

"Good to hear, good to hear." Tyson nodded. "Well I better be getting back to work. Nice meeting you, Alex." He waved before going back to work.

As he left, Alex turned his head to look at Ember and noticed she sighed. "Something wrong?"

"Every time I talk to Tyson, he always asks how Mom is." Ember said. "What about Dad? He never asks how he is."

"With you mentioning that, maybe he has a crush on your mom…?" Alex suggested.

Ember laughed slightly, "My mom may be a beautiful woman even right now, but she is happily married. And even if Tyson did like her, he knows that and he's respectful enough not to try anything." She then changed the subject. "We better start eating our pizza before it gets cold."

While the two picked out slices, time stopped around Alex for a few seconds and the Lovers Arcana card appeared in front of him showing a 3 on the bottom.

Once time resumed, Ember suggested, "After we eat, let's compete at Skee-Ball. Whoever gets the most tickets can get a prize for the loser." She grinned while Alex sweatdropped slightly.

* * *

 **Social Link Progress:**

 **Fool** (Dream World Rescue Team): Rank 3  
 **Chariot** (Jaxson Devitt): Rank 3  
 **Lovers** (Ember Farrelly): Rank 3  
 **Magician** (Damien Richards & Edgar Edwards): Rank 3  
 **Hermit** (Kayley Jones): Rank 2  
 **Star** (Rayna Sullivan-Good): Rank 2  
 **Hierophant** (Sarah Gerdelman): Rank 2

* * *

Another filler with two Social Links ranked up. Next chapter hopefully things start happening again! Let's hope.

Okay later, bye!


	13. The Calling Card

Yo! What's up? Persona story updated once again despite people hardly reading it. :D ... ._. ...I do like working on this story anyway, so don't judge me. Finally progress stuff happens here, hope you all enjoy!

* * *

 **Chapter 13: The Calling Card**

 _Date: Sunday, September 3rd_

 _[Background Music: Persona 4 OST: Signs Of Love]_

It was lightly raining in Silvercrest, so Alex just decided to stay inside for the day. He helped his dad correct some papers for his class and his mom with moving stuff around in the living room as she wanted to reorganize it. He was now sitting at his computer playing some games when his phone vibrated.

 _Got some slightly bad news, guys. Just heard from Jayden that he won't be able to join us tomorrow because he's going out of town with his family. -Ember_

 _Oh man that stinks. -Alex_

 _They're going out of town on Labor Day?! That's weird! -Jax_

 _He said his dad had a meeting or something…? Also… remember to watch the computer screens tonight as it's supposed to rain! -Ember_

 _Oh right! So we can see if anyone else is in the Dream World! Hope I remember. -Rayna_

 _Wait, when are we meeting up tomorrow for go-karting? -Alex_

 _I was thinking either 10:30 or 11. I told Kaylen and Owen the same. -Ember_

 _Thanks Em! You're the smart one here. We'll see you all there. -Rayna_

After all of them agreed to meet up at that time, Alex put down his phone and continued to play for the day, as well as not forgetting to watch the computer screen later.

* * *

 _[Background Music: None]_

A few seconds until midnight and Alex's parents were already asleep while he just sat at his desk. It was still raining outside with it getting a little heavier. He watched as his alarm clock stayed at 11:59, waiting for the minute to end. And as soon as it hit midnight, the computer turned on.

 _[Background Music: Persona 4 OST: Who's There?]_

The screen was white like when Rayna first appeared, but also the same was a silhouette. No features were seen, but from the shape of the body it looked to be a male. Nothing else could be made out at the moment as the screen faded back to black.

"Same as before Rayna was put in..." Alex said out loud before his phone vibrated. "Hello?"

 _"Alex, it's Rayna!"_ Rayna said on the other line. _"I just stayed up to watch the computer screen and I saw what happened! ...Did that happen when I went in too?!"_

"It did, but I think it happened before you went in as it didn't show you until after." Alex explained.

 _"Well I couldn't make anything else out, but it looked like a guy. I mean from the shape of it."_ Rayna said. _"Let's talk more about it tomorrow when Kaylen and Owen aren't around."_

After that short call, Rayna hung up and Alex proceeded to go to bed for the night.

* * *

 _Date: Monday, September 4th_

 _[Background Music: Persona 5 OST: Tokyo Daylight]_

The rain was gone by the time the four met up with Owen and Kaylen at the go-karting place. They agreed to keep last night's discussion quiet until they had time by themselves.

"You guys ready for a little go-karting competition?" Kaylen said excitedly as she grabbed a helmet.

"You bet we are, and I'm going to be the best racer!" Jax shouted tossing his helmet in the air.

"I doubt that, Jax. You nearly ran me over on my first day in Silvercrest." Alex chuckled.

"Dude! That was a bike, doesn't count!" Jax said, sounding offended.

"That's the same thing you said to your dad when he tried to teach you to drive." Rayna laughed.

Jax pouted, "You guys are mean!"

"So… how are we going to form the teams?" Owen asked.

"Well since Kaylen came up with the idea, how about she's a captain of a team?" Ember suggested.

"Actually I had a better idea..." Kaylen grinned. "Let's make this boys versus girls, and like before, whoever loses buys lunch."

"Oh yeah! Bring it on, we'll show why girls can't drive." Jax smirked, but earned glares from the three girls.

"...You probably shouldn't have said that, Jax." Alex gulped.

The six put on their helmets, got into their go-karts, drove to the start of the track, and started their race. And from the shouting during it… it seems the boy team wasn't doing so good.

"Turn right! TURN RIGHT!"

"I'm trying, I think my steering wheel is stuck!"

"Stay calm! We'll get this!"

"The girls are winning!"

"Crap I think I'm going too fast!"

"Hit the break then!"

"What break?! There's a break!"

"Of course there's a break, dingbat!"

"I'm gonna stear off the trac- Whoa whoa whoa whoa WHOA! ...SHIT!"

A few minutes later their race was done. The three boys were panting heavily while the girls just simply took their helmets off with a smile.

"Ha! Girls win, you're buying us lunch, boys!" Rayna laughed.

"After just one race? I thought we were doing a two out of three thing." Jax asked.

"We didn't think about that, but that sounds like a good idea, more fair." Ember said looking at Kaylen.

Kaylen thought about it for a minute, then nodded, "Okay, two out of three. But we can take a bit of a break since it seemed to knock you guys down a peg."

"I did say this is the first time I've go-karted since I was a kid..." Alex panted.

"I'm going to head to the bathroom while we take our break." Owen set down his helmet and made his way to the restroom area.

"I'll come with you, Owen. I need to go too." Kaylen put her helmet down as well and followed him.

Once Owen and Kaylen were a good distance away, Ember motioned the four together. "Okay, they're gone for now. Shall we discuss what we saw last night before they came back?"

"Yeah, who was that?" Rayna asked. "One thing I know for sure that it was a guy… I think."

"It did for sure look like a guy." Alex said. "Rayna asked if it was the same for her when she got put in the Dream World, but I told her it was probably like this before she went in."

"That's what I think, the people in the Dream World do not fully appear until they are actually inside. Although with Rayna, I think once she was in we saw her shadow self." Ember said.

"...So whoever this person is… is not inside the Dream World yet." Jax guessed.

"I guess so, so this person is safe for now." Alex said. "But if that person we saw in there last time was indeed the person who put Rayna and the other five people in there, we know this may be his next victim."

"Is there a way we can prevent it? Like if we figure out who it is before that person goes in, can we stop the possible killer from taking him?" Rayna asked.

Alex sighed, "I sadly don't think we can… Guess we'll just have to wait and see if the computer screen becomes clear and then go in there as soon as possible."

"Well one thing I know for sure, I think the guy is around our age." Ember said.

"Hey guys! Come over here!" Kaylen's voice was heard from the restroom area.

 _[Background Music: Persona 5 OST: Restlessness]_

The four ran to where Kaylen and Owen were. When they got there, they noticed a large group of people looking at the announcement and ad board that was near the restrooms. At first they were confused as to why there was such a huge crowd, but then they noticed that all over the board… were black and white medium sized cards with black jagged heart designs.

"What the…? What's with these cards?" Jax asked. "And why is everyone here looking at them?"

Alex was able to push himself closer to be able to see the cards more clearly. There were words written on them in gold colored ink and all of them were the same. The card read:

 _DWRT,_

 _I know what you're doing and I knew you couldn't resist. Your friend being put in there was just a test, and now that I know you're watching, let the game officially begin._

 _Hated by men, adored by women  
_ _Family was once loved, but is now despised  
_ _Doesn't matter the words, no one will listen  
_ _Puts up quiet exterior, hates everyone deep down_

 _You have 2 weeks. Good luck, team._

There was no signature, but after the words there was a normal shaped heart cut out with what looked like black paper.

"Huh? Is it… talking about us?" Ember asked as the other three joined Alex.

"DWRT… We called ourselves the Dream World Rescue Team, right? ...Oh god, this is to us!" Rayna whispered in surprise.

Kaylen and Owen appeared behind the four and looked closer, "...It looks like a calling card."

"A calling card? Isn't that what some serial killers use after they kill their victims?" Rayna asked.

"What's this all mean? And who is DWRT?" Someone asked.

"Could this just be a prank?" Another person asked.

While this was going on, a manager of the place walked out and saw this. "What the hell? When did these get here? Everyone, step back from the board! Step back and continue on!"

Everyone backed away, but before Ember did she took out her phone and snapped a picture of the card.

"Why did you take a picture of it? You could've just grabbed one from the wall." Alex asked.

"There are security cameras around, they'll notice me take one. Also I'm going to send this to you guys later." Ember whispered back.

"So are we going to keep racing?" Owen asked once everyone was away from the board.

"But what about that card?" Alex asked.

"I wouldn't worry about it, it might just be a prank." Kaylen suspected. "Now come on, we got more racing to do!" Kaylen and Owen ran back over to the track while the other four looked at each other, then followed.

* * *

 _[Background Music: Persona 5 OST: Beneath the Mask]_

Once racing was done and lunch was bought by the boys as they lost, it was time for everyone to go home. When Alex got home, he looked at the picture of the calling card Ember sent to them and no matter how much he looked at it and thought, he could not figure it out. It was even on his mind after dinner was finished.

"Earlier today at the local go-karting tracks, something very strange occurred." Alex could hear the local news playing in the living room from the kitchen as he washed his dishes. He walked close enough to hear what the anchorwoman had to say. "The manager walked out to see many of the costumers surrounding the announcement board of the area. What they were looking at were what looked like calling cards that had what seemed like a riddle written on them." A picture of the card was shown on the screen. "There is no signature, but the card is directed to the letters "DWRT". Many costumers were asked what they thought about this and while some seemed to be alarmed by this, most of them just considered it a prank. When the police were called to the scene and checked the security footage however, there was no sight of the perpetrator who put up those cards."

"It's obviously just a prank." The anchorman said. "With all of this crime going around in the world, stupid kids want to try and stur up drama in our peaceful town."

"The strangest thing is police checked security footage and no perp was seen. That really is strange." The anchorwoman said.

"...Alex, you were at the go-karting tracks today right?" Frankie asked as he was putting the dried dishes away.

"Um, yeah I was." Alex answered. "And I did see that card."

"You weren't the one who put them up there, were you?" Sarah asked.

"What? Heck no, Mom! I swear I didn't!" Alex said, surprised his parents would suspect that.

Frankie chuckled, "Calm down, we know you didn't. We probably would've seen you with those cards if you did."

Alex breathed a sigh of relief. He did not want to get in trouble for something he didn't do. He continued to help dry the dishes and he went to his room once he was done.

When he was out of the room, Sarah said to Frankie, "Wonder why Alex seemed so defensive about that…?"

"To be fair, he didn't expect us to ask it." Frankie said. "You think he did that?"

"No no, not at all, just a bit surprised on how he reacted to that question." Sarah said.

* * *

 _[Background Music: Persona 3 OST: Fearful Experience]_

Later at the Silvercrest police station, Jon was sitting in his office with the small TV on. He was watching the news report on the go-kart place multiple times. It was also seen that one of the calling cards was on his desk as when they went to check earlier he was able to take one.

As he listened to the anchors talk again, he looked at the card, not noticing Sebei walk into the office.

"Still focused on that?" Sebei asked.

"Yep..." Jon nodded before slightly sighing. "...I don't know why, but I have a bad vibe about this calling card suddenly appearing..."

"Let me guess, you think it somehow involves the coma deaths?" Sebei asked.

"I'm not sure… that's where my brain is going." Jon said.

Sebei sighed, "Good, you need to stop thinking those deaths are a crime. There was no sign of murder with all five of them and there weren't any clues. We really need to close this case, it won't look good on your record if you keep this going."

"...You're right, I'll try and stop this." Jon said. He grabbed a tissue and used it to grab the calling card and handed it to Sebei, "Although think you can take this to the lab and maybe see if they can find fingerprints or something? Just in case it isn't a prank?"

"Sure thing." Sebei said as he took the tissue wrapped card. "You going to head home?"

"Yeah, I think I'm done here." Jon said getting up and putting on his jacket. As he did, he heard some small taps on his office window. He looked out and saw it was starting to rain. "Another rainy night."

"At least it stopped for the day." Sebei said. "Anyway, I'll take this to the lab and head out myself."

"Okay. See you tomorrow, Sebei." Jon said as both detectives walked out of the office and went their separate ways.

 _"How did the previous five victims die, but Rayna was able to wake up and not die?"_ Jon thought as he got into the car and drove home.

* * *

 _[Background Music: None]_

While the clock was about to hit midnight, Alex laid in his bed, still looking at the picture of the card while the sound of rain pattered on his window. He got a group text saying to check on the computer screens tonight and to see if it could help solving the calling card's riddle. He looked at the time and got up to sit at his desk, looking at the screen to see what would appear. Midnight hit and the screen turned on.

"Okay, let's see who the next person is..." Alex said.

 _[Background Music: Persona 4 OST: Who's There?]_

What appeared… was not a clear image and was still the male looking silhouette. Guess the team's theory was correct, that person was not inside the Dream World yet. But as Alex looked closely, there was something noticeable on it. Despite the unclear image and the person only being a silhouette, it was wearing a grayish jacket.

"A gray jacket…? I feel like I know someone who wears one of those..." Alex said out loud as the screen turned off. After that though, he yawned and decided to sleep on it, agreeing to talk about it with the others tomorrow.

* * *

 **Social Link Progress:**

 **Fool** (Dream World Rescue Team): Rank 3  
 **Chariot** (Jaxson Devitt): Rank 3  
 **Lovers** (Ember Farrelly): Rank 3  
 **Magician** (Damien Richards & Edgar Edwards): Rank 3  
 **Hermit** (Kayley Jones): Rank 2  
 **Star** (Rayna Sullivan-Good): Rank 2  
 **Hierophant** (Sarah Gerdelman): Rank 2

* * *

Finally some progress! Looks like the team will have to rescue someone soon... but who will it be?

Find out next time!


	14. Riddle Solved?

Hello! Updated once again! I just finished Persona 5 after I finished writing this chapter so I thought it was time. This chapter might be a little boring, but it does lead up with what will happen next. Enjoy!

* * *

 **Chapter 14: Riddle Solved?**

 _Date: Tuesday, September 5th_

 _[Background Music: Persona 3 OST: Want To Be Close]_

"Morning Alex!" Ember called out as she ran up to Alex in front of the school.

"Morning!" Alex waved. "Did you watch the computer screen last night?"

"I did, and after rereading the calling card after seeing it… Well, let me just say that we can all meet up after school and talk about it. Why don't you text Jax and Rayna later about it?" Ember asked.

"I can do that. Where should we meet up?" Alex asked. "Oh wait, how about the park?"

"The park sounds like a good place to meet." Ember agreed. "I don't want to keep going to food places to meet up anyway."

"Me neither, we need a better place to meet. I will text the two when I can." Alex chuckled as he and Ember walked inside of the school together.

* * *

 _[Background Music: Persona 5 OST: Is it Boring?]_

While Alex sat in Calculus as Mr. Salvador was lecturing a lesson, Alex felt his phone vibrate in his pocket. It was a text from Jax.

 _So… we meeting up to talk about the computer screen stuff later? -Jax_

 _It won't be at lunch as Kaylen and Owen will be there. -Rayna_

 _I talked to Ember when I came to school, we're meeting up at the park after school. -Alex_

 _At the park? Sounds good! -Rayna_

 _I'm up for that! See you guys at lunch! -Jax_

 _See ya! -Alex_

"Gerdelman! Get off your phone!" Salvador barked, which caused Alex to look up and put his phone away.

"Sorry!" Alex shouted.

"If you can answer this question correctly, I won't take your phone away." Salvador narrowed his eyes at Alex before pointing to a word on the white board. "What is the definition of a derivative?"

"Uhhhh..." Alex sweatdropped, he looked through the section of his text book and looked for the definition as Salvador crossed his arms waiting for an answer. After a few seconds, Alex found it and answered with, "It is a function that gives the slope of a curve."

"Hmm..." Salvador slowly nodded. "You got out of trouble this time. Keep your phone inside during class from now on, you hear?"

Alex sighed as he kept his eyes focused on the front of the class, with Salvador continuing on with the lesson.

* * *

 _[Background Music: Persona 4 OST: Your Affection]_

Once school was over and he got everything out of his locker, Alex walked out of the school looking down at his phone. He was checking to make sure the team was actually going to meet up at the park. As he was checking however, he bumped into someone.

The person he bumped into was a girl wearing a white skirt, baby blue shirt and matching sandals, and she had straight medium length black hair and green eyes. Due to Alex not looking, he bumped into her which caused her to fall and her stuff to fall out of her backpack.

"Oh crap!" Alex looked and saw his mistake. He quickly bent down to help her. "I am so sorry! I wasn't watching where I was going!"

"I hope you had a reason for staring down at your phone." The girl said in a bit of an annoyed tone.

"I did, but I should've watched. I am sorry." Alex said helping the girl put her things into her backpack.

When it was all packed up, the two stood up and the girl sighed, "Sorry if I sounded mad at you right there, it's just it was my first day here and I'm really nervous."

"No wonder I didn't recognize you, you're new as well." Alex pointed out.

"What do you mean as well?" The girl asked.

"I'm new too… well I have been since school started back up." Alex scratched the back of his head with a chuckle. "I know how it feels being a new kid."

"Guess I'm not the only one." The girl chuckled. "I'm Brittany Rosser, I just transferred here."

"I'm Alex Gerdelman, nice to meet you, Brittany." Alex smiled as the two shook hands.

"I'm glad to meet someone that seems nice." Brittany smiled.

A honk from a car was heard and a voice was heard calling out, "Brittany!" The man was African American with some facial hair from what Alex could see.

"Oh! That's my dad! I hope to see you again, Alex!" Brittany waved before she ran towards the car.

"See you, Brittany!" Alex waved back. At first he was confused on how that man was Brittany's father, but he wasn't one to judge. He turned and made his way out of the school yard and towards the park.

* * *

 _[Background Music: Persona 4 OST: Reasoning]_

At the Roseberry Park, the four sat at a park table underneath a roof. After Ember got each of them a lemonade from a nearby stand, the meeting began.

"We now call this meeting to discuss the viewing of last night's computer screen!" Jax announced in a dramatic voice.

"...Why did you have to say it like that?" Rayna deadpanned.

"I thought it would sound cool… it apparently didn't." Jax slumped his shoulders.

"Anyway..." Alex started. "We all watched the computer screen last night, right? ...Anyone have any idea on who the victim is?"

"I couldn't figure it out." Jax shook his head. "I looked on the screen and read the card over and over, nothing. Or maybe it's because I'm stupid."

"No, I couldn't figure it out either." Rayna sighed. "Although I'll say this, the gray jacket looks familiar."

"I thought the same thing." Alex said before turning to Ember. "You got anything, Ember?"

"I think I do." Ember said. "I watched the computer screen last night and I read the card, I may have figured out who the next victim will be..."

"Of course you'd figure it out, you're the smart one." Rayna laughed slightly. "Well, who do you think it is?"

"...I think Jayden might be the next victim." Ember said as the other three looked surprised.

"Jayden…? You mean, the mayor's son… and the school's sex object?" Jax asked.

"I think that's the only Jayden we know." Alex said. "Wait a second… he does wear a gray jacket most of the time, does he?"

"Yeah he does, he wears it almost all the time." Ember said.

"Hang on a minute." Alex took out his phone and looked at the picture of the card. "Let's reread this and see if we can link it up to Jayden. "Hated by men, adored by women"."

"Oh yeah that does match him all right." Rayna said. "Guys hate his freaking guts while girls lust over him because he's hot, sexy, and apparently really smart."

"The second part… "Family was once loved, but now is despised". I'm guessing that's because of his dad becoming mayor from what you guys told me?" Alex asked.

"Exactly." Ember said. "When Dwayne was in office, the Anoa'i family was one everyone respected. But then when Joe became mayor, everybody can't stand them. Or at least the family always gets talked down upon even if they're just family."

""Doesn't matter the words, no one will listen"." Alex read the third line. "Guessing this is about the family as well."

"No matter what the mayor says, everyone either heckles him or ignores what he just said. It's the same for Jade and Jayden." Ember said.

"And the last part… "Puts up quiet exterior, hates everyone deep down"."

"That one I am unsure about." Ember said. "Jayden doesn't seem like someone who hates others."

"He has been really quiet since this crap started happening with him." Rayna said.

"What if… the killer or whoever this person is, knows what Jayden is hiding?" Jax asked. "Maybe it's a side of himself he's keeping away?"

"That could be possible." Alex said. "But while this could fit Jayden, we won't know for sure unless he gets put into the Dream World."

"Too bad there isn't a way we can prevent him from going in if it is him that's the next victim." Rayna sighed.

"Well… we got two week, why don't we just tell Jayden to not go to sleep on any rainy night for the next two weeks?" Jax asked.

The other three looked at Jax with confused looks. "...Really?"

"What? If he's not asleep on a rainy night, the killer can't get him, right?" Jax asked.

"Jax, we can't just go up to him and tell him he can't go to sleep when it rains for the next two weeks, he won't believe it." Alex said.

"We don't have to tell him what for! We just should tell him he can't for the next two weeks!" Jax said.

"Okay genius, after school tomorrow you're going to go up to him and tell him that. Got it?" Rayna asked.

"Huh? Why me? Why Ember or Alex?" Jax asked.

"Because you came up with the idea, a stupid idea. You'll tell him." Rayna said.

"Fine..." Jax huffed.

"It won't rain again until Friday according to the forecast, so we'll see then." Ember said.

"We'll see if it actually works." Alex said.

* * *

 _Date: Wednesday, September 6th_

 _[Background Music: Persona 5 OST: Suspicion]_

The next day after school the team met up with each other outside of the school and waited for Jayden to walk out.

"Remember Jax, it's your idea so you say exactly how you did before." Rayna smirked.

"Okay I get it! It was dumb, but I'll try to give it some sense when I tell him!" Jax rolled his eyes.

"Look, there he is right there." Alex said, pointing to Jayden as he walked out of the school.

"There you go, go tell him." Rayna said as she pushed Jax Jayden's way.

"WHOA!" Jax almost tripped as he was pushed, gave a small glare to Rayna, and then made his way towards Jayden. "Jayden, wait up!"

"Hmm?" Jayden heard Jax as he turned around. "Oh hello, Jax. Something you want to say?"

"There… there is. And I know it'll sound stupid, but hear me out." Jax said.

"What is it?" Jayden asked.

"Jayden, for the next two weeks, on the nights it rains… don't go to sleep." Jax said straight out.

That of course earned a raised eyebrow from Jayden, "...Why exactly shouldn't I do that?"

"It's… difficult to say, but… we might think you may be in danger." Jax said.

"We?" Jayden looked over and saw the other three watching. "And how will me not sleeping on these nights keep me safe?"

"I mean, we don't know if it'll actually work, but please try for us!" Jax said. "I know it sounds stupid as hell, but do it!"

Jayden blinked a few times before shrugging a shoulder, "If you say so, I'll try it. This better not be a stupid prank though." And with those words, he began walking away.

"Wow, he actually said he'll try it." Alex said as he and the others walked over.

"If he really does is another story, but we'll see on the computer screen Friday if it works, if it is him that's next that is." Ember said.

"So we have until Friday night to see if it worked." Alex said. "What are we going to do until then? We wait?"

"That's what I think." Ember said. "I can't hang out today though, I need to study hard for the quiz in Geography tomorrow."

"You really do study too much, Em." Jax said.

"Says the one who's fine with a low C as a grade." Ember shook her head.

"There's too much homework!" Jax said.

Rayna looked over to Alex, "While those two do their thing today, you wanna hang out?"

"Sure. Where do you want to go?" Alex asked. "Want to get something to eat or shop?"

Rayna thought about it for a moment before smiling, "Actually… I got the perfect place to go." She then grabbed Alex's hand and nearly dragged him away from the school building.

"Where we going?!" Alex asked.

"On a bus! I'll tell you once we get there!" Rayna smiled.

* * *

 _[Background Music: Persona 3 OST: When The Moon Reaches for the Stars]_

"Ta-da! Here we are!" Rayna shouted, leaping out of the bus with her arms out wide.

Alex was dragged onto a Silvercrest bus by Rayna and he ended up being on that bus with her for twenty minutes before they finally stopped in what looked like a completely new place. From the bus stop they stopped at, it seems this place was more busy and much larger than smaller Silvercrest.

"Where are we?" Alex asked as he walked down the bus steps and got out.

"This is Mirefield. Everyone from Silvercrest goes here when they want something more to do." Rayna explained. "There's more stores, restaurants, hang out spots, hell there's even a mall here!"

"This sounds cool!" Alex said in awe. "But… do your parents know you're here?"

"Please, I sneak here all the time after school and as long as I'm back before dinner they don't suspect a thing… except a few times." Rayna laughed. "Come on, I'll show you around the mall."

The two walked to the mall and looked around at the many stores. They looked around at a clothing store, music store, gaming store, and even an arcade. There was no way they were going to every single one in just one visit due to the amont of things to do inside.

Once Rayna showed him all of the stores she wanted to, the two decided to take a seat near the water fountain near the food court of the mall.

"Ready? ...Go!" Alex said as both of them threw a penny into the fountain while mentally making a wish.

"So what did you wish for?" Rayna asked.

"You think I'd tell you? It won't come true if I do." Alex chuckled.

"That's not always true." Rayna laughed. "But if that's what you think I won't tell you." She smiled as she looked around the food court. "Malls are always a favorite place of mine to go. When I was little my family would take me to one whenever I did something good; after I read a book all the way through, got a good grade on a test… They let me get one thing when we went to malls, whether it be a toy or a game or something."

"Seems you really do care about your mom and dad." Alex said.

"I do, they are my parents after all and they've raised me well." Rayna said, but then sighed. "I can't stop thinking on what my other self said in the Dream World though… sometimes I just want to do things without either of them telling not to do it."

"I think they're just looking out for you, making sure you don't get in trouble." Alex said.

"I know that, but I'm smarter than what they think… I won't get myself into trouble, I even promised Mom that." Rayna said. "Guess with my dad being a cop he has to make sure he keeps me in line."

"At least you have parents who care for you. Some kids aren't that lucky." Alex said.

"True… guess I am." Rayna said. She looked at Alex. "Sorry I dragged you here today, I just thought it would be fun to show you this place."

"Hey, no problem. I think I like it here." Alex chuckled. That's when time stopped around him and the Star Arcana card appeared in front of him with a 3 underneath it.

As time went moving again, Rayna's cell phone rang and she answered it. "Hello? ...Hi Mom! I'm just hanging out with Alex right now. ...No, I'm not in Mirefield, why would you think that? ...I know I have homework! ...Um… okay, I'll be home by then! Okay, bye!" She hung up her phone and once again grabbed on Alex's arm.

"What now?!" Alex asked.

"We need to get home now! I'm so dead if I'm not home by dinner!" Rayna said, dragging Alex out of the mall while he sweatdropped.

* * *

 _Date: Thursday, September 7th_

 _[Background Music: Persona 3 OST: Want To Be Close]_

Last class of the day finished up and Alex walked out of the classroom to his locker. As he did the combination and opened it up to put stuff away, he realized he forgot something in the classroom.

"Oh crap! My binder!" He said to himself. He closed his locker and made his way back to the classroom to grab his binder of important school papers. When he ran back in and looked at the desk he was sitting in however… it wasn't there.

"Something wrong, Alex?" The teacher, Mrs. Elliott, asked.

"Is my binder still in here?" Alex asked.

"Did you leave it here? I didn't see one when everyone left." Mrs. Elliott said.

"There you are!" Alex heard a voice behind him and turned around. Standing there was Brittany, the new girl he met two days earlier and she was holding a blue binder. "Is this yours?"

"My binder! Thanks Brittany!" Alex smiled, taking the binder from her.

"You were out of the room before I was and I saw you left it there, so I decided to take it and try to catch up to you." Brittany said. "Since you seemed nice when I met you."

"Well thank you for that." Alex said as the two began walking out together. "So I know you've just been here for three days, but you like it so far?"

Brittany nodded, "So far I like it. People seem really nice." She then turned her head slightly. "Sorry if I seemed rude when we first met… I was just so nervous on my first day, being a transfer student and all."

"It's all good." Alex shook his hands. "As I said, I'm a bit of a new kid as well so I know how it feels.

Brittany smiled, "Thank you, Alex. You are officially my first new friend since moving here." After those words, the glass shattering sound was heard around Alex as time stopped.

 _[Background Music: Persona 3 OST: The Power of the Heart]_

The Arcana card appearing before him had a picture of a crescent moon with a face on it and what looked like a scorpion above the moon.

 _ **"** **Thou art I… And I am thou…**_

 _ **Thou hast established a new bond… It brings thee closer to the truth…**_

 _ **Thou shalt be blessed with a Persona of the Moon Arcana..."**_

 _"Another bond created, the bond of the Moon..."_ Margaret's voice was heard. _"As your Rank 1 Moon Persona, you shall receive… Andra."_

The Arcana turned into a Persona with a humanoid body, but with the head of an owl and the wings of an angel. Andra spread it's wings before going into Alex's heart and time resumed.

 _[Background Music: Persona 3 OST: Want To Be Close]_

"Well, I better get going. Dad's probably already here waiting to pick me up." Brittany said.

"Hope to see you again, Brittany!" Alex waved as Brittany began walking.

"I will tomorrow! We're in some of the same classes after all!" She laughed and Alex went back to his locker to grab his things before leaving.

* * *

 **Social Link Progress:**

 **Fool** (Dream World Rescue Team): Rank 3  
 **Chariot** (Jaxson Devitt): Rank 3  
 **Lovers** (Ember Farrelly): Rank 3  
 **Magician** (Damien Richards & Edgar Edwards): Rank 3  
 **Hermit** (Kayley Jones): Rank 2  
 **Star** (Rayna Sullivan-Good): Rank 3  
 **Hierophant** (Sarah Gerdelman): Rank 2  
 **Moon** (Brittany Rosser): Rank 1

* * *

So Jayden could be the next victim? Is the team right? Guess we'll find out next chapter!


	15. Unwanted Heartthrob

Hello! Another story update and this is during a break from writing on the PCUW PPV coming up for those who read that. Stuff goes down in this chapter and the team goes in again! What will happen? Read and see?

* * *

 **Chapter 15: Unwanted Heartthrob**

 _Date: Friday, September 8th_

 _[Background Music: Persona 4 OST: Heartbeat, Heartbreak]_

"Thanks for picking me up, Mom. And I didn't even need to text and ask." Alex chuckled as he got into the car with Sarah. It began to rain an hour before school was let out and it was still pouring, and with Alex usually walking to and from school, Sarah decided to just pick him up.

"You're welcome. When I saw it was going to rain and then I looked outside and saw how much it was, I figured you'd be soaked by the time you got home." Sarah said with a smile. "Although this does remind me, I do need to get you an umbrella when we go to the store again."

"Why don't you ask Dad if he can stop at a store and get one before he gets home from work?" Alex asked.

"I might just do that." Sarah said. That's when Sarah's cellphone began to ring. "Oh, that's probably him right now. He did say this morning he might need to work late tonight." She took out her phone with one hand as she drove and her face dropped when she saw who it was from. She then pulled over to the side of the road.

 _[Background Music: Persona 3 OST: An Unpleasant Premonition]_

"Mom? Everything all right?" Alex asked.

"It's your grandmother again..." Sarah muttered. She opened the door and stepped out of the car as she answered the phone, despite it pouring down rain and thunder being heard.

Alex leaned towards the driver's side to try and hear what his mom was saying. Due to the sound of the rain hitting the car and the occasional thunder he couldn't hear all of it, but he was able to hear a little bit of what she said.

"I was just picking Alex up from school, it's raining heavily right now. ...Yeah he walks to and from school. …We haven't got him an umbrella, no. ...Are you seriously going to get on me for that?! ...How many times do I need to say it, I am not neglecting him! I'm not like my stupid sister! ...And all of that was YEARS ago, get over it… Mom, hang up now… Fine, I'll hang up! Goodbye!"

Sarah hung up the phone, got back in the car, and slammed the door shut. Her brown hair was soaked over her face, but she obviously wasn't happy with the phone conversation with her mother.

"...Not a good talk, huh?" Alex asked.

Sarah shook her head, "Why doesn't she leave me alone…? That was years ago..."

"What… did you do years ago?" Alex asked.

"A lot of stupid things, Alex, a lot of stupid things." Sarah sighed. "What's worse is one of those is how I met your father..." She turned to look at Alex. "And that's why I keep telling you to not do anything stupid or at least tell me before you do. I don't want you to make the same mistakes I did."

"I promised you, I won't. I know I may be dumb at times, but I am smarter than some kids." Alex said.

"You're not dumb, Alex." Sarah chuckled. "You might be dimwitted, but you are a good kid. Just make sure you stay that way."

"I'll do my best." Alex said. That's when time stopped and the Hierophant Arcana card appeared in front of him with a number 3 on the bottom before time resumed.

Sarah gave another sigh, "Come on, let's get home." She started the car back up and the two headed home.

* * *

 _[Background Music: Persona 5 OST: Beneath the Mask]_

That night in another house, a tall tanned man with a slight beard and black hair sat on the couch. He was wearing a black dress shirt and dress pants, but appearing out from under the shirt was a sleeve tribal tattoo on his right arm. This man was Joe Anoa'i, the mayor of Silvercrest.

"These reporters won't shut up, no matter how many times I tell them I don't have an answer..." Joe sighed as he re-watched news reports on TV involving his latest press conference.

"Why don't you have an answer?" A woman with shoulder length black hair with blue highlights walked in and asked. She wore a black tank top and blue jeans and she too had a sleeve tattoo, but on her left arm.

"I don't know, Jade." Joe said to his wife. "I know I'm not the best and at the same time maybe this wasn't a good idea… but it's what Dwayne wanted."

Jade put her arms around her husband, "You decide what's best for you, that's all I'll say. Decide what you want." The sound of the house door opening was heard as the couple looked to see who came in. "...Jayden!"

Jayden was the one walking in. His hair and clothes were drenched in water, possibly from the rain, and he didn't exactly look happy.

"What happened?" Joe asked. "Did the Roode kids bully you again?"

Jayden nodded, "I went to the library to do my homework, but Braden came over, stole my notebook, and then threw it in the pond near the library… I ended up losing it so I went back and just redid my work in another notebook. And to make things worse, he also broke my umbrella."

"Joe, something really needs to be done about those Roode kids." Jade said seriously. "Ever since you've got into office, they've been bullying Jayden nonstop."

"No Mom, Dad doesn't need to do anything..." Jayden then muttered, "He won't be able to do anything anyway."

"You sure?" Joe asked.

"I'm sure." Jayden nodded. "I'm going to bed. Night!"

Jayden went to his room and removed his damp clothing. Once he was in his boxers and prepared to head to bed, he remembered Jax telling him.

" _Jayden, for the next two weeks, on the nights it rains… don't go to sleep."_

"...Don't go to sleep… for the next two weeks when it rains…?" Jayden asked himself, looking out the window. "...He said I might be in danger… Might as well try, even though it's probably just something stupid.

Jayden got into bed under the covers but didn't fall asleep. He instead turned on his lamp and grabbed a book to read. Didn't help that he was pretty tired after what happened today, so he tried to stay awake and keep reading. It however didn't seem to help as twenty minutes after he got into bed and started to read… his body went limp and he fell asleep.

* * *

 _[Background Music: None]_

Nearly two hours later, before midnight, Alex walked around in his room. The whole team got a text saying to not forget to watch the computer screen tonight. He opened his curtains to look outside, it was still pouring like it was for most of the day.

"If the next victim really is Jayden, I hope he's doing what Jax told him to do..." Alex said, closing the curtains and sitting down at his desk. Seconds after he did, the clock flicked to midnight and the computer screen turned on.

 _[Background Music: Persona 4 OST: Who's There?]_

As soon as the screen turned on, it was a clear image of some place. It looked like a theater stage that was painted in gold, red, and white. A figure walked into the frame and he seemed to be wearing a long black cape. When he turned around, it was revealed to be Jayden! Along with the cape, he was wearing a white dress shirt that was halfway unbuttoned to show his chest, black dress pants, and he was holding a white phantom-like masquerade mask connected to a stick to his face.

"Good evening, dear audience!" Jayden spoke in a bit of a welcoming voice. "Welcome to tonight's grand performance! We have a wonderful act for you tonight that I'm sure many of you will enjoy." He removed the masquerade mask from his face while his face turned into a somewhat flirtatious look as he smirked. "And I am your host, the ever so handsome Jayden Anoa'i… I know a lot of girls will be watching to see what I can do. And I can do more than what they think..." He let out a small purr, then he jumped back with a chuckle, "Oh silly me! I wonder what will happen tonight with me! Will I prove the critics wrong? Woo! Now… I shall get ready for the show, see you all later, especially to the ladies..."

Jayden winked, put the mask back on his face, and walked away with the cape flowing behind him as the computer screen turned off.

"This… is not good..." Alex said. As soon as he said that, his phone began ringing. It was Jax and he picked up.

 _"I knew it! I freaking knew it!"_ Jax shouted. _"I knew he'd think that warning was a joke! We warned him, but he went to sleep anyway!"_

"Jax! Stay calm!" Alex said into the phone. "Stay calm!"

 _"...Okay, I'm trying… It's just, we figured out who the victim was on the first try… and even telling him to not go to sleep, he got put in..."_ Jax said.

"Don't worry, we'll get him out." Alex said. "Let's talk to Em and Rayna about it tomorrow."

 _"Yeah, we'll do that. Hope tomorrow we can get in there and get him out right away."_ Jax said before hanging up.

* * *

 _Date: Saturday, September 9th_

 _[Background Music: Persona 5 OST: Restlessness]_

As soon as all four were awake, they texted each other and once again met up at the park. They thought of their game plan for how to rescue Jayden.

"We're all good for tonight? Then we definitely are going in!" Alex said. "Think we can do the same thing we've done the past few times?"

"If you mean by just going in there, beating the crap out of shadows, and rescuing him, then yes I don't think we have anything else to do." Jax said.

"We do have to be careful though, if we run into Jayden's shadow no doubt he will be dangerous." Ember said.

"I'd rather we just grab Jayden and go, not fight any shadow this time." Rayna said.

"We might have to fight the shadow anyway, especially if Jayden is with it." Alex said. "So I don't think there's getting around that."

"Either way, we're going to win!" Jax held his fist up.

"Remember guys, tonight we're heading into the Dream World. Be ready." Alex said.

* * *

 _[Background Music: Persona 3 OST: Troubled]_

At the same time the team was meeting up at the park, inside of the Anoa'i house and inside of Jayden's room, Jayden of course was fast asleep in his bed and looked like he was barely moving. The door was heard opening and in walked Jon, Lopez, Sebei, and Jade who followed them in.

"You could've called the hospital about this." Lopez said, receiving a slap on the back of the head from Jon. "Ow!"

Jon bent down and looked at the sleeping Jayden. He put his hand on his chest and then moved to his head. He stood back up and turned to Jade.

"You said he's been like this since going to sleep last night?" Jon asked.

"Yes. I came here to wake him up after ten, but he wouldn't wake up." Jade said. "I tried shaking him but nothing."

"Well good news is he is still breathing." Jon said. "If he doesn't wake up by tomorrow, I suggest taking him to a doctor and figure out what's wrong first thing."

"I will… Thank you." Jade said. She stayed in the room as the three detectives walked out of the room and made their way towards the front door.

"...This can't be a coincidence..." Jon whispered.

"What can't be a coincidence?" Lopez asked.

"The same thing happened with Rayna, then that calling card appeared, and now the mayor's kid won't wake up." Jon said.

"Rayna woke up though, did she? If she can, Jayden can too." Sebei said. "And if he isn't awake by tomorrow, they'll take him to the doctor and they'll figure out what's wrong."

Jon said, "I don't know, guys… Maybe I'm just overthinking it."

"You're just overthinking it." Lopez said.

"Yeah, I think the kid will eventually wake up." Sebei said. "Now I say we go get some lunch, I'm starving."

"Same here." Lopez said as he and Sebei walked out of the house. "I'm in the mood for a sub sandwich of sorts!"

Jon slowly followed them out, but he still had that nagging feeling in his head.

* * *

 _[Background Music: Persona 4 OST: Who's There?]_

Midnight arrived and this time all four members of the team arrived at once. They had their weapons in hand and the golden door was already there.

"There's the golden door, someone is here again for sure." Alex said.

"It better actually be his dream in there and not just some random shadow we need to fight unlike my first time using my Persona here." Rayna rolled her eyes.

"Although from what we saw on the computer screen, I think he is in here." Ember said.

"Let's go in there and get him then! We are the Dream World Rescue Team after all!" Jax said, closing his eyes letting his mask appear and putting it on changing to his battle attire.

"Jax is right, let's do this!" Alex said as he and Rayna and Ember put on their masks as well changing to their battle attire.

"Alright, let's go save Silvercrest's pretty boy." Rayna said.

With that said, Alex walked up and opened the golden door to walk into the dream. They walked in an empty room with a lot of red and gold colors and silver chandeliers hanging from the ceiling. The room was large however and looked like a ballroom, which confused the team as what they saw on the computer screen the previous night was Jayden on a theater stage.

"Wait… is this a place where rich people have those big fancy dances?" Jax asked.

"You mean a ballroom? It… seems like it." Ember said.

"I thought this would be a theater, that's what we saw last night, was it?" Alex asked.

"What if it is a theater, but all the seats were removed or something?" Jax asked.

"If that's the case, then where is the stag-" Ember was about to ask until they heard voices.

 _[Background Music: Persona 4 OST: Muscle Blues]_

 _"Hello there, ladies..."_ A deep sounding voice, exactly like Jayden's but sounding more seductive, was heard.

 _"There he is!"_ Multiple female voices were heard squealing at the same time.

 _"Step aside, ladies! Step aside… I'm not just a pretty face you know."_ The Jayden sounding voice was heard saying.

 _"To us, that's all you are!"_ A female voice was heard saying. _"And that's why we love you!"_

All four members of the rescue team didn't have to say anything as they just stared at each other while listening to this.

"Uhhh..." Was all Rayna could say.

 _"At least we give you the attention you deserve, Jayden."_ Another female voice was heard before the voices went away.

"...I'm not sure if those were actual people or just voices from the dream." Ember said.

"I'm… not sure if I want to do this now..." Jax said, sounding nervous.

"We're doing it either way, Jax, we need to find Jayden." Alex said.

 **"Someone looking for me?"** The deep voice returned from the left side of the room. The team turned that direction and there they saw Jayden… or so they thought for a second until they saw he was wearing the same attire as on the computer screen and his eyes were gold and purple haze surrounded him.

"There he is!" Rayna shouted.

"Wait Rayna, that's Jayden's shadow!" Alex said.

 **"Well well well, I didn't expect anymore guests to arrive at my show."** Shadow Jayden said with a grin, moving the masquerade mask off his face. **"And it is such a refreshing change to see two who are not love struck girls!"**

"We-we are not lovestruck girls!" Rayna said. "Where's the real Jayden?!"

 **"Real Jayden?"** Shadow Jayden chuckled, **"You're looking at him. Isn't that who you came to see?"**

"We're not going to be able to get the real one out from him, we need to take this one out while we can." Ember said

 **"Oh would you look at that! It's about time for my performance!"** Shadow Jayden said. **"I better get backstage and get ready. I have to make that crowd happy, right?"** He then turned and ran off in another direction.

"Damn it! He's getting away!" Jax said.

"Then we have to go after him, maybe we'll find the real Jayden as well before his shadow gets to him… hopefully." Alex said, leading the four to the direction Shadow Jayden ran off.

 _[Background Music: Persona 3 FES OST: Time Castle]_

The team found themselves running into a long golden hallway, but it seemed Shadow Jayden was already gone. They knew they couldn't stop though, they had to find him. They made it towards the end of the hall but before they could open the door at the end, two raven looking creatures with faded red tips on the wings and tail flew at them. These shadows were the Vicious Ravens.

"Ack! Birds!" Jax shouted as one of the two Ravens was flapping its wings at him.

"Get out of the way!" Rayna shouted as she touched her mask, summoning Eris above her. Eris's winged gloves spiked up and hit one of the Ravens causing it to disappear.

"Nice shot, Rayna." Ember commented.

"That wasn't me, that was Eris." Rayna said with a smile.

"Stupid bird! Go away!" Jax shouted before he punched the second Raven with his iron knuckles. It however wasn't enough to take it down. "It's not down!"

"I got it! Eligor!" Alex shouted sending out his Chariot Persona, Eligor. "Twin Shot!" And with two hits from Eligor, the Raven was down.

"...Wasn't that a bit overkill? I could've beaten it with another punch." Jax said.

"Well I got it for you." Alex shrugged and opened the door which lead to another hallway. As they entered it, another swarm of the Vicious Ravens flew at them, about five in number.

"Shit! More of those things?!" Rayna shouted.

"Brigid! Mahama!" Ember called out, summoning Brigid and using her Mahama attack making three out of the five Raven's disappear.

"Yah!" Alex jumped up and slashed the other Raven with his sword.

"Incoming!" Rayna shouted and using both her fans to take out the last Raven. "That was pretty easy thanks to Ember and Brigid."

"I still don't know what that Mahama attack is exact-" Ember was interrupted as another shadow appeared in front of the team. It was only one, but it looked like a large beetle with a gold shell, purple face, and a crown on it's back. This was known as the Golden Beetle.

"AH! GIANT BUG!" Jax screamed, jumping into Alex's arms.

"Hey!" Alex shouted, not noticing the Golden Beetle running at both boys and knocking them down.

"Still afraid of bugs, huh Jaxson?" Rayna laughed, but the Beetle headbutted her as well. "Ah!"

"Dia!" Ember rolled her eyes and Brigid healed Jax from the fall. "Take out that bug, Jax. Conquer your fear."

"...You're right, Em! I can do this!" Jax shouted as he touched his mask and Balor appeared. "Use Agi and fry that bug alive!" Balor did just that and released an Agi on the Beetle. While it did damage, it didn't go down in one hit and headbutted Balor which caused Jax to feel it. "Ah!"

Alex stepped up, "Eligor, change!" The Moon Arcana card took Eligor's place before Alex made the change. "Andra! Zionga on the beetle!"

The owl humanoid Persona appeared and with a spread of it's wings, a bolt of lightning struck onto the Beetle and took it out.

"Okay dude, seriously? How many Personas can you have?!" Jax asked holding his stomach. "It's not fair!"

"No time for that, we have to keep going!" Alex said as he continued forward, with the other three following.

They went through two more halls fighting more Vicious Ravens and another Golden Beetle along the way. Once those were finished, they made it to an area that looked like a backstage dressing room area.

"Wait… how did we make it backstage?" Alex asked.

"I have no idea..." Ember said. "I didn't even know there was a backstage."

 _[Background Music: Persona 4 OST: Muscle Blues]_

 **"Oh, it seems we have some impatient fans sneaking in the backstage area to see me."** Shadow Jayden's voice was heard, clicking his tongue. **"As much as I hate to do this to adoring viewers, I'm afraid I'm going to have to send my guard animal after you."**

"Oh really? What's your guard animal, a kitten?" Jax asked.

 **"Nice guess, but not exactly."** Shadow Jayden said as one of the doors opened and a dark colored lion creature with a black ball and chain with a purple mask on it appeared. **"My Enslaved Beast, take out these intruders of my show."** With those words, the Enslaved Beast growled at the team.

 _[Background Music: Persona 3 OST: Master of Shadow]_

"Nice kitty, nice kitty… Nice big kitty!" Jax shouted as the Beast ran at him and swiped at him sending him down.

"Jax you moron!" Rayna face palmed before she nearly got swiped by the Beast as well. "Looks like we'll have to get through this giant furball in order to get to Jayden and his shadow!"

Jax got back on his feet, "Then get through it we will! Balor!" He touched his match and summoned Balor. "Skull Cracker!" Balor went towards the Beast, but before he could hit it, the Beast's claws came out and hit the Persona, causing Jax to feel a scratch pain on him. "Ah!"

"I got it!" Ember said as Brigid went to do a Dia on Jax, but the Beast attacked her as well. "Ah!"

"Eris! Use Garu!" Rayna called out and Eris used a wind attack on the Beast, being able to hit it. "I got a hit!" She then threw one of her fans at it for another hit.

"Good job Rayna, but I know this won't be easy." Alex said with Andra by his side. "Use Media on both Jax and Ember, they need healing." Andra nodded and both Jax and Ember were back up.

"That Persona as a multi-healing spell?" Ember asked. "That would be useful for me."

"Alex watch out!" Rayna called out as the Beast lifted up it's paw to attack Alex.

"Change!" Alex called out with the Star Arcana card appearing, replacing Andra and revealing Fuu-Ki. And right as Fuu-Ki appeared, the attack the Beast went to do on Alex hit… but it looked like a clear shield of sorts appeared in front of Alex and the Beast got hit with its own attack being reflected back at it. "Counterstrike connected!"

"Okay, let me try again!" Jax stepped up. "Agi!" Balor blasted out an Agi and it appeared to be a good attack as the Beast fell over with that move hitting it. "Yeah! All-out attack, baby!" Jax shouted as the All-Out Attack screen with the four appeared before they went in and attacked. But even though they attacked together, the shadow wasn't finished.

"It's not going down!" Rayna said.

"Then we keep going!" Jax said. "Balor! Try again with the Skull Cracker!" Balor tried a second Skull Cracker, but this time the attack was reflected due to a move similar to Fuu-Ki, hitting Balor. "What the hell?"

"Alex's Persona he has now was able to do that before, must be a counter move." Ember said.

"That's what it is." Alex said. He couldn't say anything else as the Beast lifted up it's paw and all four got hit two times with one move.

"What was that?!" Rayna shouted while holding her stomach on the ground.

"I don't know but it got all of us at once!" Alex grunted.

"Wait… Jax, when you did the Agi attack, the Beast went down pretty easy." Ember said.

"S-so?" Jax asked standing up.

"Maybe fire is what it's weak to. You and Alex give out fire attacks and see!" Ember said.

"Good idea, Ember. Eligor, come back out!" Alex summoned Eligor again and the horse riding knight Persona instantly threw out an Agi, the Beast falling down once again.

"Balor, you too!" Jax called out as Balor did the same and did more damage to the Beast.

As the Beast was down, Rayna and Ember stood together. "Wanna finish this off, Em?" Rayna asked.

"Let's do it!" Ember nodded as both girls held their weapons and attacked the Beast; Ember with her staff and Rayna with both her fans. And those hits connected, the beast stayed down.

 **[Level Ups:**

 **Andra learned Sukukaja**

 **Fuu-Ki learned Tarukaja]**

 _[Background Music: Persona 3 FES OST: Time Castle]_

"Phew! We did it!" Jax wiped his forehead.

"We're not done here yet, we're getting closer to Jayden!" Alex said.

"Let's go get him!" Rayna said as the door to the dressing room opened and the team ran out.

* * *

"Ugh..."

Meanwhile, while the team was on their way, Jayden awoke on the ground of the dream stage. The gold, red, and white colors seemed to blind him as he blinked.

"Where… where am I…? Is this… a dream…?" He asked out loud. As he asked that, the red curtain on the stage opened up. The stage was large, but in the very back a large TV was playing some sort of broadcast. Jayden walked closer to see what it was, and he was able to see that it was footage of the Silvercrest Mayor elections from three years prior. It showed the poll results, both Robert Roode and Joe Anoa'i were close to neck and neck, but it was clear Joe had the most votes.

The screen then switched to the first press conference Joe held as mayor, "As mayor of Silvercrest, I promise I will follow in my cousin Dwayne's footsteps and make you all proud! I will run this town the best I can, and I thank all who have voted for me! Thank you!" Joe said proudly as the crowd cheered loudly for him.

Jayden sighed, that was the last time people cheered for his dad. But then the TV turned off and voices were heard around him, causing him to look around trying to find out where they were coming from.

 _"He promised to make us all proud? Wow, what a joke!"_ An adult man's voice was heard.

 _"He only did this so he could impress Dwayne."_ A woman's voice was heard. _"I didn't think people were stupid enough to vote for him. It was a close race and he ended up getting the most."_

 _"Why doesn't Mayor Anoa'i just resign already?!"_ A teenage boy's voice was heard. _"Nobody likes him anymore and everyone is realizing they've made a mistake in not listening to Roode! Roode was right when Anoa'i was only in this because of Dwayne!"_

 _"Man, Jayden is SO cute! Too bad his father is a moron or else I would actually consider dating him. Oh well, I guess a future one night stand wouldn't hurt..."_ A young woman's voice was heard.

 _"Even his dad's good looks don't get me, Jayden is the one with the sex appeal."_ Another girl's voice was heard. _"That's all Jayden is though, a pretty face. If he just said his father made a wrong move, maybe we wouldn't look at him as just that and he wouldn't get pushed around."_

Jayden heard one more voice before they ended completely, but this one seemed to touch him. It was the voice of an angry young woman, _"Dad, if you actually run for mayor, I am serious about this… I will leave this house! You won't be able to be mayor, Dad! You're not ready!"_ Jayden's eyes closed hearing that one, which caused him to sigh again.

 _[Background Music: Persona 4 OST: Borderline of Madness]_

 **"You have nothing to say to that? Is that the moment that really got you? Oh poor Jayden..."** Jayden turned his head… to see another version of himself walking onto the stage with the masquerade mask being held onto his face.

"Huh?!" Jayden stepped back when he saw his shadow.

Right as Shadow Jayden stepped out, the door to the theater opened and the team dashed in and stopped when they saw the two.

"Look! There he is!" Rayna pointed out. "The real Jayden and his shadow both!"

"Stand your guard, everyone!" Alex said, all four standing together.

"What… what are you?!" Jayden asked.

Shadow Jayden chuckled, **"Can't you see? Can't you tell from this devishly good looking face?"** He removed the mask from his face. **"I'm what you keep deep inside, Jayden. Why don't you admit the things you are holding in? You might be more liked around town if you do."**

"What are you talking about?" Jayden asked, not trusting this shadow.

 **"For one… I hate the people of Silvercrest!"** Shadow Jayden said as Jayden's eyes widened. **"The adults talk behind my back, they talk bad about both me and my mom who did nothing wrong! I hate the boys at my school as they always judge me… especially the Roode kids! And the girls… don't EVEN get me started on the girls! They are the worst out of those three groups… All they see me as is a sexy face, a sex object! They don't care about how I feel or about how I get bullied almost weekly! All they care about is their disgusting fantasies about me! That is all I am to them and they do not care!"**

"I figured he'd think that..." Ember said softly.

"...I… I don't think like that…!" Jayden shouted.

 **"Oh you don't, do you? Well then… I guess I can't say that I too dislike my father as the town's mayor."** Shadow Jayden continued to say.

"Wh-what?!" Jayden asked.

 **"I kept it in me for over three years because I know if I say it, I will upset my dear father."** Shadow Jayden said in a mocking tone. **"My father… is an absolute moron! I knew from the start he wasn't cut out to be mayor and I thought he'd realize that before elections came, but it's what he wanted to do to impress former mayor and his cousin Dwayne! But ever since the town thought he could do good and he got in, the Anoa'i name, a name that was once respected and loved, has now become a laughing stock! And it was because of him not realizing his stupidity that Jojo left us!"**

Alex looked over at the three, "...Who's Jojo?" The others responded with shrugs as they didn't know either.

"...Stop… Stop it!" Jayden shouted.

 **"I wish everything could return back to the way they were before… It was a better time."** A smirk appeared on Shadow Jayden's face. **"Don't you think, other me?"**

"...No! Why would you say that to me?!" Jayden shouted angrily.

 **"Didn't you listen? It's because you are me, and I am you. That is true, right?"** Shadow Jayden smirked bigger, the masquerade mask being twirled in his hand.

"No… It's not! ...You're not..." Jayden began to shout.

"Jayden! Don't say it!" All four members of the team shouted.

"...You're not me! You're nothing like me!" Jayden yelled.

Shadow Jayden's smirk turned to a full blown grin as he started chuckling evilly and the purple haze surrounded him. **"Don't deny it! I am you, and now you can't stop me!"** The haze grew before it fully surrounded him and blew out to send Jayden back.

"Jayden!" Ember shouted running towards him.

"Here we go! Get ready for a fight!" Alex called out, getting his sword ready while Jax got his knuckles ready and Rayna had her fans unfolded.

 _[Background Music: Persona 4 OST: I'll Face Myself -Battle-]_

When the haze faded, Shadow Jayden's true form was revealed. At first it was hidden behind a black cape in the air, but the cape soon opened to reveal a dark red and white striped figure with its face split in two; the left side of the face looked saddened with the eye being a white color, but the right side of the face looked angry with the eye being red. It also had a masquerade mask similar to what the human version was holding, but that too changed on both sides of the face with the left half of the mask looking yellow and the right half looking black.

 **"I am a shadow… the true self."** Shadow Jayden spoke, the right side of the face doing the talking. **"Nobody is my friend in this place, and you are all just intruders getting in my way!"**

"We're here to help our friend, and we'll stop you from taking over him!" Alex said.

Shadow Jayden laughed, **"You, friends? The day I have real friends is the day I will stand up to bullying! ...Which will never happen!"** He held up his spear and threw it down, sending many arrows out of the spear towards Alex, Jax, and Rayna; with Ember using Brigid to protect both her and Jayden. **"Arrow Rain!"** The arrows hit all the team members, including Ember with Brigid getting hit causing her to feel the pain.

"Are you okay?" Jayden asked, seeing Ember shout in pain. "Did you get hit?!"

"I'm… I'm fine… You have to stay here, Jayden. I'll be here." Ember said.

"Ugh… Andra, Media!" Alex summoned Andra and used the Media cure spell to heal up the team.

"Glad you have a Persona to do that since Ember is protecting Jayden!" Jax said getting up.

"Hope she can convince him to admit his feelings, I think every shadow we fight will get harder and harder." Rayna said.

 **"Vile Thunderbolt!"** Shadow Jayden called out as lightning bolts struck towards the team.

"WHOA!" Alex shouted. Luckily they were all able to move out of the way and avoided it. "No more talk! We have to fight this thing and get Jayden out of here!"

"Right!" Jax nodded before Balor appeared. "Let's do this, Balor! Sonic Punch!" Balor flew over to the direction of Shadow Jayden and punched him in the face.

 **"Gah!"** Shadow Jayden shouted as he got hit. **"...Nice start, but not good enough!"** He threw his spear at Balor and hit him in the stomach, causing Jax to fall to the ground in pain holding his abdomen. He then turned to Rayna's direction. **"Hyper Zionga to you, sweetheart!"**

"Absorb Electric!" Rayna shouted as Eris appeared above her host and a light blue rippling effect appeapered in front of her, and as said from the move, it absorbed the attack. "I gotcha there, you large creep! Get him with Twin Shot, Eris!" Eris's arm wings spiked and she flew towards Shadow Jayden for an attack.

Shadow Jayden laughed, **"You're not going to get me!"** He swung the spear and hit it right on Eris's head as she was about to make contact with him. Rayna held her head in pain. **"Let's try this again… Hyper Zionga!"** And this time Rayna could absorb it and she was hit hard with the electric attack.

"Ippon-Datara, Sledgehammer!" Alex called out, switching out Andra with his Hermit Persona. Right as he was summoned, Ippon-Datara dashed at Shadow Jayden, both his weapons ready to strike.

 **"You haven't learned yet, have you?"** Shadow Jayden asked as he threw the spear, with this time hitting Ippon-Datara right on the neck and causing Alex to fall down holding his neck and coughing.

"...An...Andr-" Alex tried to change Ippon-Datara out to Andra so he could heal the team, but he was shocked by a bolt to silence him. "AH!"

"...Jayden, stay here! I'm going in!" Ember shouted as she ran towards Shadow Jayden with Brigid floating behind her.

"Ember!" Jayden shouted.

Ember jumped into the air and attacked Shadow Jayden with her staff with Brigid following it up with a Skewer. The attacks seemed to hit Shadow Jayden well, actually stumbling back. As the shadow stumbled, Ember used Dia one at a time to slightly heal her down teammates.

"Thanks a bunch, Em!" Alex said getting up.

"Yeah thanks!" Jax nodded.

"This isn't done yet!" Rayna called out.

 **"Indeed it isn't… Vile Thunderbolt!"** Shadow Jayden called out as the multi-target attack let out again… and this time it hit all four! But before they could even attack back, Shadow Jayden's cape floated in the air and out from it came what looked to be electric wires, those wires wrapping up both the Persona users and their Personas as well. He laughed as the wires held them in the air. **"You're the heroes that came to rescue the other me? Oh what a laugh! You barely did a dent in me!"**

"We… we will not stop until we defeat you…!" Alex shouted, which caused the four to get shocked. "AHHH!"

 **"Well then, I guess I'll just have to kill you then to make you stop."** Shadow Jayden chuckled. His body began looking like it was charging it.

"Oh no… I think he's charging for a big attack!" Ember said, trying to struggle out of the wires.

"This bastard really is tough..." Jax said.

"We can't give up, guys!" Alex shouted. "We have to do something!"

"But what?! We can't get out of this!" Rayna asked.

"...Is that… what my inner thoughts created…?" Jayden asked himself, seeing the four helpless as his shadow self charged up. "I didn't even know… this could happen." He slowly stood up to his feet, watching his shadow laughing as the charge was getting close. He looked straight at it and shouted, "Let them go!"

"Huh?!" The team looked over hearing him.

Shadow Jayden looked down with a grin, **"Well well, it seems my other self is finally accepting me? Sadly, you are too late. I'm going to kill these intruders, and then you will be next!"**

"I will not let you do that… Because what you said, I am keeping that inside!" Jayden said. "These are feelings I hate, but they are ones I kept building… I stayed quiet about it for so long… But not anymore… I am confronting myself and admitting my mistake!"

With those words, the electricity Shadow Jayden was charging began to weaken, **"Huh?! ...No… No! This is not happening!"**

"Yes it is happening… I caused this… and I am helping to fix it!" Jayden shouted as Shadow Jayden's charge was officially stopped and he began to weaken.

 **"This can't… This can't be!"** Shadow Jayden shouted, the electricity on the wires going away and they began to losen on the team.

Rayna wiggled her arms out of the wire with them grabbing onto her fans. "Ember! Jax! Heads up!" She threw both her fans at the wires and they were able to cut through, freeing Jax and Ember.

"My turn!" Ember jumped up and used her staff to cut Rayna's wire and freed her.

"Here we go!" Alex said as he used his sword to cut his own wire. As he fell to the ground, he put his hand onto his mask and changed his Persona, "Odysseus!" Right as he landed on the ground, his main Persona appeared above him. "Let's finish this shadow off! Power Slash!"

"I'll join in!" Jax shouted. "Skull Cracker!"

 **"No, I won't let- AGHHH!"** Shadow Jayden shouted as both Odysseus and Balor's attacks connected.

"Brigid! Skewer!" Ember called out, Brigid flying forward and executing the hit.

"Eris, hit that bastard with a Garu!" Rayna ordered as Eris released her wind attack at Shadow Jayden.

 **"I… I can't lose… Not now…!"** Shadow Jayden weakly said, the shadow leaning over.

"Too bad, you are." Alex smirked. "Odysseus… Cleave him!"

Odysseus nodded and launched himself at Shadow Jayden. As he did this, all four ran at him as well and jumped up with an attack on their weapons.

 **"GAHHHHHHHH!"** Shadow Jayden screamed as the hits connected and he was defeated, disappearing into a purple smoke like the others.

 **[Level Ups**

 **Odysseus learned Gale Slash**

 **Ippon-Datara learned Tarukaja**

 **Brigid learned Kouga**

 **Balor learned Counter**

 **Eris learned Tempest Slash]**

 _[Background Music: Persona 4 OST:_ _I'll Face Myself_ _]_

"Did I just… help you guys beat that…?" Jayden asked, looking in disbelief.

"You did, Jayden. You stepped in by admitting the hidden side of yourself." Ember said.

Jayden sighed, "I can't believe you know about this now, it was something I didn't want to admit to anyone… not even myself."

Alex put his hand on Jayden's shoulder, "Everyone has a hidden side, and it's okay to face them. They'll set you free if you do."

"Speaking of other sides..." Rayna pointed down to the floor, showing Shadow Jayden back as his clone self was now laying there.

Jayden looked towards the team with all four of them nodding to him. He nodded back and walked over to his shadow. "Here, stand up." Jayden let out a hand and helped his shadow up to his feet. "These feelings I've kept for over three years, since all of this started. I knew what you were saying was right, but I was ashamed of it. I do care for my father greatly and I do appreciate the decent people here… I guess I just wanted things to go back to the way they once were. ...I didn't know this is what would happen if I kept this in for too long… But now I know. ...You are a part of me, and I need to face that."

Shadow Jayden nodded and gave a smile before turning blue and moving above Jayden. He then turned into a figure that wore black open chested clothing and black pants shown under a white long jacket of sorts. It also wore grey boots with wavy designs on the top and a longsword attached to the side of it's pants. The figure looked more human compared to the other Personas as it had a more human face and the chest had a large scar on it. The eyes were plain white and it had long black hair down to the middle of it's back with a small braid circling the top.

 **"** _ **I am a Persona of the Emperor Arcana. I am a God of Desire, Adonis, and I shall fight by your side."**_ The Persona said before it turned into an orb and then into a black and white wolf shaped mask, which fell into Jayden's hands.

"Adonis? ...Pretty fitting for Jayden." Ember chuckled a bit.

Jayden stared at the mask before it disappeared, "What does… that mean?" He asked before stumbling back.

"Whoa! Easy boy!" Jax said before he and Alex caught Jayden before he fell.

Jayden looked over at the team, "You… So you were right about me not falling asleep? I actually did try to stay up, looks like I fell asleep."

"Part of us knew you wouldn't be able to stay awake." Rayna chuckled slightly.

"I have so many questions to ask about this..." Jayden said.

"Don't worry, we'll tell you soon. For now, let's get out of here so you can wake up tomorrow." Alex said as the team helped Jayden out of his dream and made it out of the Dream World.

* * *

 _[Background Music: Persona_ _3 FES_ _OST:_ _The Poem for Everyone's Souls]_

Shortly after the team left the Dream World, Alex found himself sitting in the Velvet Room. At first he was confused, but he remembered he could be summoned there in his dreams if needed.

"Welcome back to the Velvet Room, Alexander." Igor greeted. "Don't be alarmed, you are back in your world asleep, I have summoned you."

"What am I here for? You going to give me a new power?" Alex asked.

Igor chuckled, "Not at the moment. I just called you in here to congratulate you."

"Congratulate me? For what?" Alex asked.

"Remember when you moved to Silvercrest one month ago and I told you that you'll have a destiny to fulfill?" Igor asked. "This is your destiny, to solve this strange mystery of the Dream World. Now, answer me this… Do you really think those five deaths involve the Dream World?"

"...They have to be, I mean Jax and I did see the officer die in front of our eyes and he too had a black heart like the previous four." Alex answered.

"And that's why I'm congratulating you. You and your friends are already thinking on how to solve this and you've only been living in that town for a month." Igor commented. "I also applaud you for your current Social Link progress, you're doing quite well with that." He paused for a few seconds, "However… you still have a long way to go before your destiny is fulfilled…"

Igor held his hands together, "I will let you off now… Until next time." Those were his last words before Alex faded away from the room.

* * *

 **Social Link Progress:**

 **Fool** (Dream World Rescue Team): Rank 3  
 **Chariot** (Jaxson Devitt): Rank 3  
 **Lovers** (Ember Farrelly): Rank 3  
 **Magician** (Damien Richards & Edgar Edwards): Rank 3  
 **Hermit** (Kayley Jones): Rank 2  
 **Star** (Rayna Sullivan-Good): Rank 3  
 **Hierophant** (Sarah Gerdelman): Rank 3  
 **Moon** (Brittany Rosser): Rank 1

* * *

Looks like the team was right and it was Jayden who was next. But now that he's been rescued, will he join them on their mystery solving? We shall wait and see.


	16. Bash at the Beach

Hello! Had this chapter done for a few days, but I tried thinking of more to add with no luck, so I'll just upload it the way it is. Hope it's an enjoyable filler nonetheless.

Alternate title for this chapter: "Summer Sunday"

* * *

 **Chapter 16: Bash at the Beach**

 _Date: Sunday, September 10_ _th_

 _[Background Music: Persona 4 OST: Signs of Love]_

Alex found himself waking up right at 12:30 in the afternoon and not being able to go back to sleep. Even though it was a weekend and he wanted to sleep in late after last night's rescue, he decided to go ahead and get up. As he got dressed and went to the bathroom, he heard the doorbell ring from downstairs.

"Alex! Your friends are here!" Sarah was heard calling.

" _Huh? What are they doing here?"_ Alex thought before making his way downstairs. He got down and saw Jax, Ember, and Rayna at the door with them holding beach towels as well as Ember holding a large picnic basket.

"Heyo Alex!" Jax greeted.

"What's up, guys?" Alex asked.

"We're heading to the beach today, want to join us? I even packed us a picnic lunch." Ember asked.

"That does sound cool, but I don't know if Mom will-

"You can go ahead and go, Alex." Sarah called from the other room. She then peeked into the room and threw a pair of blue swimming trunks at him. "There you go!"

"Mom!" Alex shouted and the girls laughed.

"Be lucky it wasn't your underwear." Jax chuckled. "Now come on! The official summer season will be over in like ten days or so! Let's enjoy it while we can!"

With those words, the four friends ran away from the house and got onto the public bus to head to the beach.

* * *

 _[Background Music: Persona 3 Portable OST: After School]_

Once the three got to the beach, they went to the changing rooms and changed into their swimming gear before running to the sand. It wasn't packed on this day, but there was a decent amount of people there.

"Oh hell yeah! Beach time!" Jax shouted, wearing his black swimming trunks. "So, what are we going to do first?"

"It depends. Do you guys want to eat lunch first or swim first?" Ember asked wearing a purple swimsuit with pink flowers on it.

"I think we should eat first, I didn't eat yet and I'm starving!" Alex said.

"Neither have I, let's dig in then!" Rayna smiled wearing a green swimsuit.

"Let's put down our beach towels first, and then I'll hand out the food." Ember smiled. As everyone set down their towels, she then commented, "It's not too hot and the wind is light, the weather is perfect."

"Thank god it's not blazing hot or really windy; I wouldn't want sand in my food." Rayna commented. "Speaking of hot…" Rayna's eyes moved to the lifeguard chair, where an attractive man with blonde hair tied into a ponytail and a fit body was the lifeguard.

Jax groaned, "Of course she'd drool over him…"

"Rayna liking the lifeguard?" Alex asked.

"Yeah… His real name is Matthias, but everyone calls him Tyler, I think it's because he's a self-loving douche." Jax said. "On days where there's hardly anyone, I hear he takes out a cell phone and takes selfies all the time."

"Is he really like that, or are you jealous that Rayna is eyeing someone?" Alex asked.

"We don't know what Matthias is like personally, we never talked to him." Ember claimed.

"If only I was older…" Rayna sighed dreamily.

"If only I was attractive enough…" Jax sighed to himself.

"H-hey Ember, you going to hand out the food?" Alex sweatdropped, trying to change the subject.

"Oh yeah, I'll do that right now." Once everyone sat on their towels, Ember reached into the picnic basket and took out sandwiches, cups of juice, fruit cups, and little bags of chips.

Alex was handed his food and looked at the inside of the sandwiches, "Ham and cheese! My favorite!" He exclaimed happily.

"I already like this beach lunch." Jax grinned.

"Time to dig in!" Rayna smiled as the four friends began to enjoy their lunch.

"Mmm… Damn this is good!" Jax commented as his mouth was full of sandwich.

"Like it? I tried grilling the bread on the stove; I wanted to give it a shot." Ember said.

"Are you kidding? I like sandwiches better when they're grilled! Or at least ones with ham or turkey on them." Rayna smiled.

"Maybe I need to convince Mom to make sandwiches this way from now on." Alex chuckled.

"Oh hi, Alex! Didn't expect to see you here today." A voice was heard behind the team. They looked over and saw Brittany, who was wearing a white one-piece swimsuit with blue flowers on it.

"Hey there, Brittany, good to see you too." Alex waved a hand at her.

"New friend of yours, Alex?" Rayna asked, as Jax next to her seemed to be staring at Brittany.

"Wow… She's pretty…" Jax chuckled in a perverted way before being slapped on the back of the head by Rayna. "Ow!"

"Yeah, this is Brittany; she's a new kid like me." Alex smiled. "Brittany, these are my friends Ember, Jax, and Rayna."

Brittany nodded at the other two, but pointed at Ember, "I do remember you; you're in my Calculus class. I tripped outside of the room when class was over and you helped me grab my things on the ground."

"Oh yes! I remember I helped you out there." Ember said. "I didn't know you met Alex."

"And it appears that wasn't the only time she dropped something near us, although I bumped into her when we met." Alex said.

"I was a bit rude to him, but he helped me with my stuff as well." Brittany said. "I see you four are eating, I'll leave you be." She turned around and went to leave.

"You want some lunch with us? I made extra just in case." Ember offered.

"Well… if it's not too much trouble." Brittany said, sitting down on Alex's towel. "What do you have?"

"Ham and cheese sandwiches, juice, a fruit cup, and some chips." Alex said.

"Sounds great!" Brittany smiled as Ember handed her the food.

The friends continued to enjoy their lunch while also getting to know Brittany a little more. She mentioned how she is a transfer student and she was getting used to the town. Her father is a fitness trainer at the gym in Mirefield and she was thinking about joining the school track team once she got the hang of things. Alex noticed however while she talked, she did keep looking at Ember. He just shrugged it off and let her continue.

"Was there a specific reason you got transferred like for your dad's job?" Alex asked.

"…I was bullied quite a bit at my old school, to the point the teachers suggested I go to another one close by." Brittany said, a little hesitantly.

"Why would someone bully you? You seem nice and good looking as well." Jax said.

"It's… complicated." Brittany said.

"You also mentioned what your dad does. What's your mother do?" Ember asked.

That caused Brittany to stop for a little bit. She rubbed her arm a little bit before answering, "…I… don't really want to talk about it… that too is complicated…"

"Oh I'm sorry…" Ember apologized. "Sorry I brought it up…"

"No it's okay, you didn't know." Brittany said, then giving a small smile. "Glad to hear someone cares though."

"Your last school must've been tough I'm guessing." Alex commented.

"It was, but thankfully I think this place will be better for me." Brittany said. That's when time stopped around Alex and the Moon Arcana card appeared in front of him, showing a 2 underneath it before disappearing.

Brittany went to take a chip out of her chip bag, but saw it was empty. "Oh! Would you look at that? I ate all of my lunch already."

"So have we, time flies when you're having fun." Alex chuckled.

"Nice of you to join us, Brittany." Ember smiled, which Alex could've sworn he saw a small blush on Brittany when she said that.

"Thank you for letting me join you for lunch. I should probably get back to Dad now, he might be wondering where I am. Hopefully I'll see you soon." Brittany got up and waved at the four before walking off.

"Bye Brittany!" Alex called out.

"She seems like a nice girl, I like her." Rayna smiled.

"So do I… and NOT because she looks good!" Jax added the second part quickly when he saw Ember and Rayna glaring at him.

"And here you get on me for drooling over the lifeguard…" Rayna rolled her eyes.

"Because he's a douche!" Jax shouted.

"Alright alright stop it!" Ember called out. "Looks like we all finished our lunch while we talked with Brittany."

"Sweet! I'm gonna go swim now!" Jax jumped up and made his way towards the water.

"Wait! We can't swim now, you'll get a cramp!" Alex shouted.

"You have to wait a half hour to an hour before you go swimming after you eat!" Ember added.

"That's just what parents want you to think! Besides, I am not waiting that long to swim!" Jax jumped into the water shouting "Cannonball!" The other three watched as he went in and waited. "Th-th-the water's… a l-l-little chilly, but s-s-see? No cramps!"

"He's gonna cramp." Rayna said, and right as she said that…

"Ahh! My foot! It hurts!" Jax screamed. "Someone get me out!"

"Lifeguard!" Rayna called out.

A minute passed and Jax was back to laying on his towel with Matthias the lifeguard standing over him.

"Your friend was right, don't swim after you eat or else that'll happen." Matthias said. "Be lucky you weren't very deep in water yet."

"Yeah yeah, don't need to tell me, pretty boy." Jax grumbled.

"Just be careful, okay?" Matthias asked before heading back to his lifeguard chair.

"I am SO glad I didn't need to get CPR from that creep!" Jax said.

"You could've at least thanked him." Alex said.

"Until Rayna stops drooling at him, then I will." Jax said.

* * *

 _[Background Music: Persona 3 OST: Joy]_

The beach day was finished and the four headed back home for the day. As Ember went to her home next door, Alex made his way to his and saw Sarah was talking to two people on the front porch. One was a man with curly dark hair, bushy beard, and from what he saw it looked like one of his ears was missing. The other was a woman with brown hair and some colored highlights.

"Oh hi Alex! How was your day at the beach?" Sarah asked as she noticed her son arriving home.

"It was fun; Ember made a picnic lunch and we just hung around and talked for the day." Alex smiled before looking at the visitors. "Talking to more people, Mom?"

"Oh yeah, these are the Foleys; Mick and Colette. They live around this neighborhood and they just noticed we moved into this house." Sarah chuckled.

"So this is your son? He's better looking than I thought he would be." Colette said before chuckling.

"He gets that from his father." Sarah smiled.

"Mom!" Alex's face turned red in embarrassment, both at a woman calling him attractive and his mother embarrassing him again.

"Don't worry, kid, she's just having a little fun… as we all in our family do." Mick smiled. When he did, Alex noticed a few of Mick's teeth were missing. A missing ear and missing teeth, but this man seemed really kind and friendly.

"We've got four children so it can get wild around our place." Colette said.

"I bet." Sarah said. "I should probably head inside and make dinner since he's home. Frankie should be home soon as well."

"Sorry we had to miss him, hope we can meet him soon too." Mick said. He then turned to Alex, "Nice meeting you as well."

"You too, Mr. Foley." Alex waved back before Mick and Colette made their way home.

"You hungry for dinner at all, Alex or did you eat a lot at your beach lunch?" Sarah asked once the two got inside.

"You know I'll eat anything, Mom!" Alex said.

Sarah laughed, "I know, I always have to ask."

* * *

 _Date: Monday, September 11_ _th_

 _[Background Music: Persona 3 OST: Afternoon Break]_

During lunch at school, the team along with Kaylen and Owen sat together talking about how the beach day was and just having some small talk. As the talk went on though, Alex noticed Ember looking a little uneasy.

"Everything okay, Ember?" Alex asked noticing this.

"Don't worry, I'll tell you later…" Ember said softly. The rest of the table looked confused at this.

"Did something happen you don't want to tell us?" Owen asked, sounding very concerned.

"…Something like that." She said.

"We can leave if you need some time alone." Kaylen suggested. "Come on, Owen; let's leave her alone for now." She and Owen left the table, with Owen looking back worried at Ember before they went across the lunchroom.

The other three pretended to leave until Kaylen and Owen were out of sight, and then sat back down.

"What's going on, Em?" Alex asked.

"…A week before today, that calling card was seen at the go-kart track." Ember reminded.

"Oh yeah it was!" Jax said.

"But we've got another week before the deadline, why do you seem worried about that?" Alex asked.

"I think… we might have rescued the wrong person. I haven't seen Jayden in school at all today." Ember said.

"…Shit! That better not be the case!" Jax said.

"Especially since the clues on the card were accurate to both the real Jayden and his shadow!" Rayna said.

"There is a possibility that he's either not awake just yet or his parents are keeping him home for a bit. It happened with Rayna when she was trapped in there." Alex said.

"…He is right; Mom and Dad didn't let me return right away just to be safe." Rayna said.

"Think we should go to his house and see?" Jax asked.

Ember shook her head, "No, we'll probably raise suspicion if that happens. If we don't see or hear from him by Friday or the weekend, I say we go back in and see."

"Don't think we'll have to do that, but I guess we can see for sure then." Alex said. "We however did rescue him and he got a Persona of his own, so I think we did get him out of there."

"Yeah Em, let's not worry about this too much, I'm sure he'll be okay." Rayna smiled.

* * *

 _[Background Music: Persona 4 OST: Your Affection]_

School finished for the day and Alex decided to take a walk into town on his way home. It was a nice warm day outside anyway and the summer season would be ending in about a week so he felt to enjoy it while he could. He walked past the area of small businesses in the town and went to walk past the coffee shop when…

BAM!

The glass door of the shop suddenly collided with Alex's face and sent him down to the ground, his eyes swirling at the hit. The reason for this was a woman with blonde hair tied into a high ponytail wearing a red business suit stormed out of the shop.

Alex shook his head shaking off the daze and stood up. He saw the woman running out and tried to catch up to her. He saw her try to get into her car and called out, "Miss? Excuse me, but you caused that door to bash into my face!"

"Well I'm sorry; you should've watched where you were going!" The woman shouted in an angry tone, clearly upset about something. "I haven't had a good day, so bug off kid!" She got into her car and then drove off as the car screeched.

"…What was her problem?" Alex asked briefly before officially making his way to home.

* * *

 **Social Link Progress**

 **Fool** (Dream World Rescue Team): Rank 3  
 **Chariot** (Jaxson Devitt): Rank 3  
 **Lovers** (Ember Farrelly): Rank 3  
 **Magician** (Damien Richards & Edgar Edwards): Rank 3  
 **Hermit** (Kayley Jones): Rank 2  
 **Star** (Rayna Sullivan-Good): Rank 3  
 **Hierophant** (Sarah Gerdelman): Rank 3  
 **Moon** (Brittany Rosser): Rank 2


End file.
